


Remnants of the Moon

by Nap1400



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game), Persona 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:42:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14314818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nap1400/pseuds/Nap1400
Summary: Ten thousand years ago, a monster from another dimension caused a plague that brought humanity to the brink of extinction. That much is known among the androids of Earth. What is less known is the Grotesquerie Queen wasn’t the first extra-dimensional monster to threaten humanity, and unbeknownst to most androids today, these monsters, called Shadows, still remain on Earth in secret. At least until a certain mad scientist comes across an ancient golden-haired android that has the knowledge and power to fight them…





	1. Prologue

_Monday, April 2nd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Mysterious Island_

_21:00_

**_Days until Full Moon: 2_**

 

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

The sirens blared throughout the island as an android yelled at the top of her artificial lungs to clear the blast zone. One might say they went a bit overboard with the warnings, but God knows the Resistance couldn’t afford any more accidents after the last excavation. With the funds needed to make YoRHa materials, they could just barely scrape together the money needed to make parts for 50 androids, and that was only a week ago.

“Alright, let’s get a move on! I only got 72 more hours before I gotta fly off and get to work in the desert!”

As much as Jackass would prefer otherwise, explosives have to be used very sparingly during excavation missions, lest she risk destroying valuable artifacts that might be buried in the dirt. So she savored the few moments where blowing stuff up was the only option, like in the mountains the other day, or this concrete ceiling that was way too thick to dig into using conventional methods.

This entire island has been an anomaly for a while. On March 10th, 11945, Anemone, the leader of the Resistance in Sector Aleph, had called for some valuable weapons that were too massive to be transported by any means except by ship. But during the trip, the cavalry of the ship confused the coordinates and accidentally landed on the wrong island--one that was invisible to satellite maps. Naturally this was a cause for alarm and Anemone wanted to cover this uncharted territory as soon as possible. Maybe someone was jamming the satellites on purpose to keep hidden. Rogue androids? Machines? Maybe the aliens that had been missing for so long? Or maybe it was just an area that just naturally couldn’t appear on satellite images for some reason. Whatever the case, the Resistance agreed that it needed to be examined as soon as possible to ensure the safety of further missions.

It’s been a month since then, and up until yesterday it seemed the possibility of anything on the island being remotely interesting was slim. Jackass and her excavation crew had scanned the island top to bottom. There were no signs of any form of intelligent life anywhere to be found; there weren’t even any machine fish in the waters, indicating that the aliens and machine lifeforms had never even come near this place at any point. The past two weeks were spent digging up various point of the island, looking for any artifacts that might have been left behind by the old world to indicate what the hell was the point of this island, if there even was one. It seemed for the longest time there would be no such answers; this was just a weird remote island that nobody had ever cared about.

And then one of the Resistance members hit solid concrete.

As the rest of the crew consolidated their digging into one area, they were amazed to find the roof of some kind of gigantic building. There was no telling how old it was, but judging by how sturdy it was against jackhammers and lasers, Jackass figured whatever was in here was clearly important at some point in the past. Her biggest hope was that it was housing some secret weapons humans buried to be forgotten. Even if they were likely horrendously outdated by modern standards, she couldn’t help but feel enthralled at the idea of more ideas to experiment with. She had to see this out before she got to her next assignment for the YoRHa Commander. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long.

“Alright, status report,” Jackass said to her radio.

“No immediate dangers detected,” the radio responded. “Apart from the blast we made, the building is completely intact. I think you should come and see for yourself.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Jackass set a ladder on the edge of the rubble from the blast, then slid down as quickly as she could.

For a building that has been buried underground for who knows how long, the inside remarkably still held together. The hallway Jackass came into was massive, easily covering the size of her home camp and then some. On either end of the hall there were magnificent double-doors made of fine wood and solid gold door handles, with statues that resembled...something on either side. _Chess pieces?_ Jackass mused to herself. A line of columns adorned one side of the hall, and on the wall behind them there were frames covered in dust. Jackass wiped one down to discover it was completely empty, faded away from age.

 _Wonder if White would like to put something here_.

“Alright, Moose, you check out the doors on the right,” said Jackass. “I’ll scout out the area on the left.”

“With all due respect, ma’am”, Moose replied, “wouldn’t it be better to explore as a pair? Never know what might come up.”

“You know better than anyone that the two of us can handle things on our own.” Jackass glanced around the rest of the hallway. “Plus this place is huge. We need to cover as much ground as possible and quickly.”

“If that’s the case, then I feel like having more of the crew down here would help that more than just two of us on our own.”

“Fair point. I’ll radio down a few more people, but I want everyone split up to explore every bit of this mansion.”

Moose shrugged. “If you insist.”

Jackass took out her radio and ordered three crew members to come down into the hallway, assigning them to each door out of the hall. The crew soon split up, and Jackass found herself going through the biggest door.

 _Finally_ , she thought as she turned on her lantern. The light shone and revealed a living room of sorts. Three couches surrounded a small table and faced a humongous monitor, and in the back of the room another frame hung up against the wall. Underneath the frame there was soil running all along the wall held up by flat stone bricks.

_Hmm...This looks like a setup for a kind of garden I’ve seen in the old world records, but there are no plants. Probably died from lack of sunlight. This place really has been underground for a while._

After getting distracted by her own musings for a bit, Jackass looked up at the frame and started to wipe away the dust on this one as well. But as she moved her hand she felt a slight indent near the top of the portrait. Doing a bit of tracing revealed that there was a small square panel that was separate from the rest of the canvas that was invisible to the naked eye.

_Or at least it would’ve been, for humans._

Curiosity taking the better of her, Jackass attempted to push the panel, and as she suspected, it moved into the wall and started a mechanism. More specifically, the wall on the other side of the room opened up like a doorway, revealing a tunnel that seemed to go a fair distance away.

 _Wonder if the others found similar hidden passageways...whatever, we’ll talk about it later,_ Jackass said to herself as she started walking into the tunnel. The hidden door closed the minute she walked in, but Jackass could see with the help of her lantern that there was a button on the back of the door labeled “Open”.

In Japanese.

A language that humans stopped using by the fourth millennium.

 

_Well, guess I got a time period to work with. We’re exploring ancient history right now._

* * *

 

_Goddamn, this tunnel is a long walk. Whatever’s at the end of this thing better be worth it._

As if the world was listening to her thoughts, Jackass finally came across a metal door at the end of the tunnel. There was no handle, but next to the door was a keyboard and small LED screen, presumably for inputting a password.

Jackass groaned. _Fantastic, no way I’m gonna find any password hints around here with the state of this building. Oh well, let’s see if I can’t make a lucky guess._

She started typing on the keyboard.

Nothing appeared on the screen.

_Fuck! Of course this thing wouldn’t have power after almost ten thousand years. Although...if that’s true…_

She dug her hands under the bottom of the door. Jackass might not have been built for combat, but she figured all androids had strength that far surpassed humans by design. And she was proven right when her arm strength was more than enough to lift the metal door when it didn’t have its electronic locks active.

_Perfect._

And as if some god somewhere was answering her prayers, Jackass was greeted by the remains of an old laboratory. There were computer monitors everywhere, control panels all across the room, and scattered notes all across the floor. Jackass picked one page up out of curiosity. It was written in Japanese, just like the button for the hidden passageway.

 _‘7th Generation Anti-Shadow Weapons destroyed in battle. The sole surviving weapon will be kept in the Kirijo labs indefinitely.’ Well then, looks like I hit the jackpot,_ Jackass thought with a smirk on her face.

In the back of the room was a set of containment pods all lined up in a semicircle. As Jackass looked over each one she discovered that they were completely empty save for a few wires that dangled from the top. The same was true when she looked in the rest of the pods, until…

_Wait a minute...is that an android?!_

Sitting in the final pod was, indeed, a somewhat human-looking robot modeled after a girl. She had no artificial skin anywhere but on her face; the rest of her body was completely metallic and painted white with some gold to match the color of her hair. The rotating joints on her shoulders and hips were completely exposed revealing the mechanisms within her body. And on top of all that, for some reason she wore a red bowtie on her neck.

Jackass’ thoughts began to race. _This model looks too primitive to be any use to us...She’d definitely stand out while she doesn’t have anything covering up her body, and if she has any combat capabilities I don’t think she’ll be able to take down any more than a few stubby machines. On top of that, I doubt humans were able to completely figure out proper artificial intelligence at the time she was made; she might just be an emotionless husk who just follows her orders…_

 _...so no different from most of us, I guess,_ Jackass thought with a sigh.

 _Wait_ , Jackass thought as an idea came to mind. _If she’s as old as I think she is, she might have been around during the Great Calamity...and maybe she could provide us with some new intel_ _on whatever the fuck happened that day._

Jackass started to chuckle as she ripped open the pod. “Alright, let’s see if I can get you active.”

She unplugged the android from the now defunct wires that were hooked up to her body, then laid her out on the floor as Jackass took out some of her medical supplies. More specifically, her defibrillator. She turned it on and started raising the voltage to slightly dangerous levels.

“A little power overload should be enough to get you back on your feet,” Jackass said as she started rubbing the electrodes, then placed them on the parts of the android she felt would conduct the most electricity.

“CLEAR!”

And it was in that exact moment that she shocked the android, that Jackass suddenly and unwittingly transformed into a coffin.


	2. Awakening

_Monday, April 2nd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Mysterious Island_

_Dark Hour_

_**Days until Full Moon: 2** _

The jolt continued throughout her body for a good couple of seconds, but eventually the shock started to wear off. Her eyes forced wide open, the android began to collect her thoughts.

_Where am I…What happened here…?_

The android put her hand over her forehead as she tried to focus.

_This...This is the Kirijo Laboratory...And I am…_

_...Aigis._

Remembering her name seemed to be the key for the rest of her memory to unscramble.  _Yes, that is it. I am Aigis, a weapon designed to combat the Shadows of the Dark Hour with the power of Persona. This laboratory is where I was put after the last operation was deemed a failure…_

The last operation. The details of that incident remained fuzzy, but Aigis knew that she was the only survivor of the rest of her fellow androids from that day. Who knows how long it's been since that fateful mission, but now she has been reactivated once again. And when she finally stood up, she saw who brought her back into this world.

Or rather, that person after they had been Transmogrified.

_Ah...I must have been activated right at the turn of the hour at midnight. I do not believe that was a wise decision considering now the person will be unable to debrief me on my mission until the Dark Hour has ended...but perhaps this is an emergency and that is why protocol was ignored. If that is the case…_

With that thought, Aigis activated her rockets and flew through the tunnel leading to the Kirijo Manor at breakneck speed. No Shadows came in her way, lucky for her, but she kept her fingers loaded just in case. After opening the hidden passageway at the end of the tunnel, she burst out of the study and into the main hall, racing towards the door. Another coffin stood to the right of the main entrance, but Aigis paid it no mind as she quickly shoved the door.

Except it wouldn't budge.

_That is odd...The door is not locked…_

Aigis shoved against the door a bit harder, then continued to apply force by activating her rockets. The door remained shut.

_I apologize, Mr. Kirijo_ , Aigis said as she stepped back, then ran at full speed towards the entrance. She lept and delivered a flying kick at the weakest point in the door.

But instead of yielding, the door simply stopped Aigis like a brick wall and she bounced back onto the floor.

_This doesn't make sense...The entrance to the Kirijo manor may be gaudy but it is no sturdier than any other door. Why is it refusing to open?_

Fortunately for Aigis, she noticed that she hit the floor right in a spot where light from the moon was coming in from. She looked up, and saw there was a rather crude looking hole on the roof with a ladder coming down behind where she fell. A bit of an unusual sight, but a lucky break nonetheless. Aigis turned off her rockets to conserve fuel and raced up the ladder until she was standing on the roof of the manor. But upon reaching the roof, she made a discovery that answered many of her questions yet raised even more alarming ones in their place.

_The manor is...completely buried?!_

Indeed, the roof she was standing on was nothing more than a floor surrounded by soil and several more Transmogrified people. In fact, there were piles of soil a good bit of distance away and various vehicles, indicating that this had been a construction project up until now.

_What took place while I was deactivated…?_

In a slight panic, Aigis started to fly into the air to get a better view of Yakushima. Just as was the case with the Kirijo Manor, none of the buildings that Aigis knew of when she was last activated could be seen. They were likely in a similar state as the manor at this point.

_This must be the work of Shadows...and yet I do not believe I can see any on the island…?_

Well, that was less of a surprise. While it is still dangerous during the Dark Hour, most days Shadows tend to stay close to their home in Tartarus, the tower that could be seen in the distance off on Tatsumi Port Island.

_Perhaps I may find answers if I travel to the source._

And with that, Aigis put her rockets on full throttle as she flew all the way towards the humongous tower in the distance.

* * *

_Monday, April 2nd, 11945 A.D. ~~ City Ruins_

_Dark Hour_

_**Days until Full Moon: 2** _

It didn't take much flying over Tatsumi Port Island to realize something was horribly wrong. Most of the buildings in the city had become skyscrapers, but more importantly, they were almost completely devoid of any signs of life. There were almost no coffins inside any of the usual apartment complexes, and there was no form of furniture of any sort. Not to mention the buildings had become overgrown by vines and looked ready to collapse at any moment.

_This is much worse than I ever thought...I have to kill those Shadows as quickly as possible._

As Aigis raced through the city, she finally found some coffins in a clearing between all of the buildings. And more importantly…

_Shadows…!_

Aigis honed in on the three telltale creatures: piles of black liquid that ooze out negative energy, with four arms and scarlet eyes that glowed with malice. They were relatively small, but Aigis couldn't ignore their presence because of another little detail.

_They are moving towards the two coffins on the edge of the field,_ Aigis thought as she opened up her hands.  _I must destroy them before they bring those two into the Dark Hour._

And with that, Aigis dashed towards the one closest to her and unloaded a shot to its back. The Shadow panicked as it morphed into its true form of a disembodied hand with a face on top of where its wrist should be, but the noise was enough to alert the other two to Aigis' presence.

Aigis sighed.  _At least this will distract them from the coffins. Now…_

Summoning a Persona is a grueling process. To do so involves evoking the natural fight-or-flight reflex in such an extreme manner that the energy combined with the supernatural atmosphere of the Dark Hour manifests itself into a material form. For most people, the way to do so was holding a special gun to their head and pulling the trigger. While it didn't actually kill the person, the ordeal always simulated the feeling of doing so that created the necessary energy. Aigis herself didn't need the special gun because her creators had programmed a method to stimulate the feeling within her own head. Her eyes dilated as she executed the program and the adrenaline rush kicked in. She felt the bullet hit the inside of her mind as she cried out her Persona's name...

"PALLADION!"

A blue flame enveloped Aigis and rose into the sky, as a figure faded into existence. It was a woman wearing a helmet resembling that of the Roman cavalry, and a long flowing sky blue robe with a golden breastplate and shoulder pads. She took a stance as Aigis called out the orders.

"I need your help, destroy that monster with a Kill Rush!"

Palladion obeyed, as suddenly her head started to come apart. The face, helmet, and hair detached itself and revealed a mechanical pike coming out of where her neck was supposed to be. As she charged towards the Hand, the pike surged with electricity and began spinning rapidly like a drill. The Hand attempted to change into a fist to reduce the impact, but it couldn't stop the pain as Palladion repeatedly thrust her pike into the Shadow's knuckles. The power proved to be too much for the Hand to handle as it crumbled into black and orange mist, but now the other two shadows were approaching Aigis and morphing into two Eagles wearing plumes with masks around their necks.

"These are a bit stronger than Hands if I remember correctly," Aigis tried to recall as she let loose a barrage of bullets against the Eagles. "Palladion, attack both of them with a Swift Strike!"

The Persona responded by diving for the eagles at breakneck speed, but this time she could only graze both Shadows as they swayed and dodged both the bullets and Palladion's lunges. The eagles began to flap their wings more rapidly causing the wind surrounding them to build up speed, and eventually caught up Aigis and unloades the wind in a powerful gust.

"Agh!" Aigis grunted as the wind knocked her into one of the buildings and caused her Persona to dissipate.  _That's right, flying Shadows are usually more evasive. I will need to raise my agility._

Aigis shook off the rubble from the wall she was knocked into, then called out for her Persona once more. "Palladion, raise our speed with Sukukaja!"

Palladion once again manifested above Aigis, this time lifting up her head as it disassembled and stuck her pike out into the air. The pike spun and a green aura surrounded both the Persona and Aigis herself. Aigis could feel the weight of her body lifting as she made another dash for the Shadows. She took aim at one, and this time her bullets hit right in the bird's head, knocking it to the ground.

"Enemy is down! Swift Strike again!"

With the boost from Sukukaja, Palladion's movements were so quick that she was almost invisible as she speared through the Shadows. The one on the ground disintegrated, but the other one continued to fly with all its might as it began to charge at Aigis. She attempted to intercept the assault with a bullet, but the Shadow swerved out of the way just in time and dove into her body, driving its talons into the metal and leaving a scratch on her chest.

"Eugh…!"

It wasn't fatal, but that attack still hurt. Aigis knew she had to finish this quickly, so she called to her other self one last time.

"Palladion, Kill Rush!"

This time the Persona was too quick for the eagle to dodge. Palladion caught the bird mid-flight and drove her into the nearby wall. The impact was enough to knock the Shadow unconscious before it dissipated into the air.

With the battle over, Aigis closed up her fingers and let out a sigh of relief. She looked at the peeled paint left on her chest from the battle. "I'll need to get that fixed after the Dark Hour ends...Wait…"

* * *

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ City Ruins_

_00:01_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

"WHOAWHOA!"

Aigis turned around after hearing a yelp. Standing behind her were two people where the coffins had been previously. Aigis checked her internal clock.

_00:01. I forgot to keep track of how long I was in the Dark Hour. Whoops…_

The people in question were a woman and a boy with silvery-white hair, black uniforms, and swords stuck to their backs. The woman's hair was done in a bob-cut held together with a black hairband, and she wore a graceful dress that reached down to about her upper-thighs. The boy's hair was in a bowl cut, and he had a button-down jacket with a similar design pattern as the woman's but with shorts instead of a skirt. But most striking was that both the woman and the boy wore blindfolds over their eyes, and yet the boy was very clearly reacting to Aigis' sudden appearance as if he could see everything.

The boy started muttering what Aigis thought to be gibberish, then paused. After a brief awkward moment of silence passed, the woman began speaking in similar sounding gibberish, this time clearly directed at Aigis.  _Wait,_   _is this supposed to be their language? This will make things complicated..._

"I apologize, but I do not understand what you are saying," Aigis phrased out slowly. "Do either of you speak Japanese, or English, or French? I have those languages in my memory bank."

They both raised their eyebrows at Aigis' response, then turned to each other and spoke in more of their foreign tongue. After a bit of conversation, they turned back to Aigis.

"We speak all those languages, ma'am," the boy finally said. "Which would you prefer?"

"...Japanese should work."

"Okay," the woman voiced back. "Then let's start over. Why did you just suddenly appear out of thin air like that?"

Aigis hesitated. The Dark Hour was meant to be strictly confidential information aside from those with close ties to Persona-users, yet they had seen the effects of the Dark Hour with their very own eyes. And it didn't look like they were going to be forgetting any time soon. But trying to explain how the Dark Hour works is unbelievable to most people who haven't actually been there…

"...You know what, that seems like a loaded question," the boy finally said. "Let's try starting somewhere a bit simpler. Are you supposed to be an android or a machine?"

That was...relatively easier. "I am an android. I do not see the need to distinguish whether or not I am a machine? Androids are mechanical by nature…"

The boy raised his eyebrows even higher. "Okay that was...not the response I expected." The boy put his hand to his head in confusion. "Uh...do you have a name?"

"My name is Aigis. What should I call you two?"

"My name is 2B," the woman responded. "And this is 9S."

_Alphanumeric names? This situation becomes stranger by the second…_

"Well…" the one named 9S began. "You don't  _seem_  hostile, and you do claim to be an android...Though I've never seen an android so...exposed before."

"Excuse me?" Aigis asked, with a mildly offended tone.

"Oh, nononononono, don't take it the wrong way! It's just, uh…" 9S' face became red.

"...How about we bring you to the nearest base after we finish our mission," 2B interrupted as 9S let out a sigh. "We'll have you explain everything there."

"Okay. I have some pressing questions myself regarding my situation, so let's sort everything out together."

And with that, Aigis followed the two known as 2B and 9S as they ventured further into the city.

* * *

" _So...that android can experience the bloody hour."_

" _What was the term she used for it? The Dark Hour?"_

" _And that power...Perhaps she could be of use to us…"_


	3. Out of Date

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ City Ruins_

_00:30_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

Keeping up with 2B and 9S was no problem for Aigis, as she was a combat weapon designed for maximum efficiency on the field. Even so, Aigis was impressed with how fast 2B and 9S were running.  _They could give most track stars a run for their money_ , Aigis thought.  _...no pun intended._  There were a lot of questions going through Aigis' mind as she raced through the labyrinth of the city. For instance, while she didn't notice it until much later, it has been daytime ever since the Dark Hour ended. The sun clearly should not be shining overhead at 00:30 in the morning. On top of that, Aigis could have sworn that during her mad dash through the city she could have seen moose across the fields. She knew for a fact that moose were not among the native wildlife of anywhere in Japan. And finally, Aigis had just taken notice of the two floating boxes that were accompanying 2B and 9S. They were tiny little things, one grey colored and one black colored, and both had tiny, stubby arms of sorts with 3 fingers at the end.  _Are those robots of some kind?_ Aigis wondered.  _And were they always following those two?_

"Alright, these are the coordinates the weapons trader gave us," 9S said as they finally approached another field amidst the overgrown city.

"Um…"

"He said we could find complex gadgets lying around this area, right?"

"Uh…"

"Affirmative, 9S. Let's start sweeping the area until we get as many as necessary."

"Um, 9S, 2B?"

"What is it, Aigis?" 2B replied.

"What is that..?" Aigis worriedly asked as she pointed in the direction of...something. It looked like a large robot but one that was not made with very much care put into its design. It had a completely cylindrical body made of what looked like rusting metal, and blocky limbs that suggested it was made from spare factory parts or something of that ilk. It had a spherical head with two glowing, red eyes that suggested it was ready to kill on sight. And most alarmingly, it had the means to do so with the gigantic battle axe it wielded.

"Oh, right," 9S answered. "The weapons trader said we might encounter some hostile machines around this area. Looks like we're gonna have to fight."

"Stay back, Aigis," 2B said as she motioned to a nearby tree trunk. "We don't want you getting injured."

"With all due respect, 2B, I can handle myself. I can join you in a fight if necessary."

"Really?" 9S looked over Aigis once again. "You don't have any weapons on you. Don't tell me you're gonna fight using your bare hands?"

"Well, yes and no," Aigis said as she opened up her fingertips. "My hands double as guns. I can provide cover fire when needed."

"Whoa, really?!" 9S looked at Aigis in awe. "I've never seen an android with that kind of functionality before…"

2B paused for a moment, then responded. "...Okay, but make sure you're careful about where you shoot. We don't need any friendly fire accidents happening."

"Understood," Aigis said as she took her battle stance. "I see three of those...machines standing around. Would it be best if we all took on one at a time?"

"Honestly, I think 2B and I can take care of those three rust buckets easily on our own, but I kinda want to see what your combat capabilities are. So yeah, let's go with your proposal," 9S said as he drew his blade.

"Alright, on my signal…" 2B hesitated, then pointed at the robot furthest to the right. "Go, Aigis! You take care of that one!"

And with that, Aigis, 2B, and 9S charged towards their respective targets. Aigis took aim at the side of the machine's head, then fired a series of bullets after she felt she was an adequate distance away. Except it turned out to be a bit too far, as the bullet ricocheted off of the machine and into the grass surrounding it. This drew the machine's attention as it noticed Aigis still holding her hand up. It began to approach Aigis, running while dragging its axe through the grass, then held it above its head as it got within striking range. Luckily for Aigis, the machine gave her more than enough time during the windup to determine when to roll out of the way. With the machine now up close, Aigis analyzed the structure of the machine as she continued to evade the heavily telegraphed axe swings. She attempted a few point blank shots in the machine's torso, but while they actually left a dent this time, they could not pierce through the machine's body.

 _Hmm..._ Aigis thought as she continued to jump over the machine's swings.  _This robot is slow, but very durable. I may need to be a little bit smarter as to where I shoot. There should be some structural weaknesses somewhere…_

The machine lifted the axe for another overhead swing, and that's when Aigis realized.  _The joints on its limbs. They have to be built with thinner metal than the main body. Perhaps if I focus my fire…_

The machine lept in the air, and the axe came crashing down with Aigis narrowly avoiding the blow. Sure enough, Aigis saw just the slightest gap between the arm and the torso that one of her bullets would fit through to reach the hinges. It would take impeccable aim, but...

The machine's eyes began to glow once again. This time it wound up its axe for a side-sweeping motion. Aigis backflipped to gain some distance and as the machine attempted to run towards her, she let loose a bullet from her index finger.

*Ping*

In an instant, the machine's right arm fell to the ground, rendered completely inert and causing the machine to drop the axe. In the brief moment of confusion, Aigis ran up into the machine's face and delivered another shot, this time in between the machine's torso and right leg. Another ping, and the limb once again detached itself from the body. The machine attempted to wave its remaining arm to keep balance, but it was no use as it helplessly collapsed to the ground.

"Flasya...moyschecar...kowisarla…"

The helpless machine began speaking gibberish as its eyes pierced Aigis.  _It can speak...and is that the same language 2B and 9S were speaking before…?_

But before she could attempt to understand the machine at all, a swift punt knocked it all the way back into the building on the other side of the field. The force planted the machine hard enough to stick to the wall for a solid two seconds in an almost cartoony fashion, then its eyes shut down as it fell to the ground and exploded.

"Uh...2B…?"

"Not terrible, but clearly lacking in efficiency." 2B brushed off her boots. "Though I must say you are simultaneously impressive and dumbfounding when it comes to tactical decisions."

"Excuse me?" Aigis' tone started to become defensive.

"Making the most of inferior firepower by concentrating on structural faults, and ensuring the enemy was rendered inert by removing its balance was a smart idea. Most of the Resistance usually focuses on raw power to get the job done, but perhaps they could use someone like you in case they come across a situation in which they cannot." 2B then shook her head. "But why in God's name would you attempt to communicate with the machine after the fact?!"

"I was not communicating," Aigis retorted as she closed up her hands. "I just heard it speaking in a similar manner as you two. It had me confused."

"Oh, right." 2B relaxed her posture. "You don't speak our language. Well, for future reference, there's been a strange phenomenon among machine lifeforms where they start imitating speech, but there's no actual meaning behind them. They're just repeating things they've seen and heard from the world around them. Pay no heed if you see one talking."

"...I see. They speak, but don't understand the underlying messages behind them...Wait, what happened to the other two machines?!"

"Already taken care of!" 9S came running towards the two girls with a few gadgets in his hands. "We actually destroyed them well before you beat yours, but I wanted to give you a chance to prove yourself, so I told 2B to back off."

"Um...thanks…?" Aigis gave 9S a quizzical look. "What's that you're holding onto?"

"Ah, these are the materials we needed to give to the weapons trader. Managed to find them in the middle of our battle. Good thing we were able to find enough."

"Alright," 2B said. "Let's hurry back to the Resistance Camp. We can discuss everything there."

"Understood," Aigis responded. "Which direction are we headed?"

"The camp is east of here, but we'll have to do some navigation around the buildings." 2B stuck her sword to her back. "Come on. We'll guide you."

* * *

  _Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Resistance Camp_

_1:15_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

"Is that the Resistance Camp?" Aigis as she pointed to a setup of tents and banners on the other side of a fairly large pond.

"Yep." 9S tilted his head. "I still don't get how that setup is supposed to deter the machines. It's not like a few blankets are going to provide much protection against energy blasts."

"I've been meaning to ask about that." Aigis turned toward 2B and 9S and decided to finally let everything off her chest. "What is the deal with those 'machines' as you continue to call them?"

The duo looked at Aigis with a shocked look on their faces. "Uh...machine lifeforms? Made by aliens trying to invade Earth? The entire purpose for our existence?" 9S looked extremely confused. "None of this is ringing any bells?"

Aigis' eyes widened at 9S' comments. "No...I mean, I've fought otherworldly creatures of a sort, but I don't think we ever called them aliens…"

"That can't be right," 2B interjected. "The war with the aliens has been going on for over 6000 years. There's no way you would've heard otherwise."

_6000 years._

_Six Thousand Years._

_SIX THOUSAND YEARS?!_

That statement caused Aigis to almost short-circuit out of disbelief. She had known that some time had to have passed since her last activation based on the condition of her surroundings, but there was no way she could have been sleeping in the Kirijo Labs for several millennia. It seemed impossible.

She dared to ask the million dollar question.

"2B...what year is it?"

"...11945 A.D."

Aigis froze.

"...Is everything alright, Aigis?"

Silence.

"...My last activation was...1999 A.D."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By request of one of the reviewers on FFN, this has been cross-posted on Spacebattles. If you have any spelling and/or grammatical errors to point out to me, that'll likely be the best place to post them. Thanks for reading!


	4. Unavoidable Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MINOR SPOILER WARNING: The following chapter will incorporate plot points from NieR: Automata that are revealed late in the game but have no significant bearing on the overall narrative on that game. I personally don't think they're that big of a deal, but I figured I should be fair after promising not to spoiling the games in the first few chapters. Enjoy!

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Resistance Camp_

_2:00_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

It was a good thing 2B and 9S had been granted a resting quarters, because their new companion needed one desperately. Aigis needed to rest, but she also needed to think. She wanted to just close her eyes and fall asleep, but there was so much weighing on her mind that attempting to shut everything off felt impossible.

_11945\. 11945. 11945._

Aigis kept repeating the year in her head.

_I've been asleep for almost ten thousand years. And the Shadows and the Dark Hour are still active. How much havoc could they have wrecked on the world while I was in that pod?..._

And apparently Shadows weren't the only threat to humanity anymore. 2B had mentioned something of an alien invasion that has been happening for a little over half the time she was stuck in the labs. She couldn't even fathom how much damage the world must have taken from those years of war. How many people could be left after a practically endless war like that?

"Aigis?"

The soft, concerned voice of 9S could be heard beyond the door.

"What is it?" Aigis' exhaustion could be heard a mile away.

"Is everything alright? I know this is a lot to take in, but maybe it would help if 2B and I finally cleared things up with you."

"...Alright. Come on in."

The door slowly creaked open. 9S and 2B slipped in, and then 9S quickly shut and locked the door the minute everyone was in the bunk.

"...What is the purpose of locking us in?"

"I have a feeling you want some privacy. Don't want any of the other Resistance androids finding out about your age and suddenly bombarding you with questions about the old world."

"I suppose." Then Aigis noticed something in what 9S said. "Wait, androids?"

"Yeah, you didn't notice? All of us here at the camp are androids. What did you think we were?"

"...Honestly, I thought all of you were humans. You look almost identical in complexion."

"There are no humans on Earth anymore." 2B leaned back on a nearby wall as she began. "They're all up on the moon."

"The moon?"

"The aliens invaded at a critical point in history, when humans were already on the brink of extinction. They fled to the moon as a safe haven, and we androids have been fighting in their name ever since to drive the aliens off." 2B let out a sigh. "I don't know the details of the events that led up to that point, but I do know it began somewhere in the early 2000s."

"...Right after I was deactivated."

"Affirmative. Our commander would probably know more of the details of what happened. I advise you get in touch with her as soon as you can."

"...I see. May I ask a few questions about here and now then?"

"Go ahead."

"First of all, I'm assuming by your uniforms that you're not like most of the Resistance members here." Aigis scanned the duo once again. "Most of them were wearing rags and war-torn clothes, while you have these expensive looking outfits."

"Yeah, you caught us." 9S let out a brief chuckle to attempt to lighten the mood. "We're with a special android squadron called YoRHa. We're the latest and most advanced models in combat and reconnaissance. I'm one of the Scanners, and 2B is one of the Battlers."

"...Is that what the letter in your name is for?"

"Yep! My full name is technically YoRHa unit No. 9 Type S, but that's a bit of a mouthful so we just refer to each other by personality number and designation."

"Okay then. What are the blindfolds for?"

"These aren't blindfolds. They're special goggles given to all field units that give us a heads-up display." 2B untied her "goggles" to reveal piercing blue eyes underneath. "It gives us a map, an estimation on our vitality, an enemy radar, and so forth. We can see perfectly fine with them on"

"Huh...Making goggles modeled after an article of clothing meant to impair sight. Seems a bit counterintuitive."

"I've never questioned it." 2B stood upright. "It certainly hasn't stopped me from seeing strange things in this world. Like you suddenly appearing out of thin air."

Aigis looked up. "You still want me to explain that."

"I do. Honestly, the fact that you're from the distant past explains a lot of things. Your lack of artificial skin over your body, your archaic choice of weaponry, your use of a language we all assumed was dead...But no android from any time period should be able to just materialize out of nowhere like that. None of us have developed the technology to completely teleport mass from one distant area to another, so I doubt anyone from 1999 ever did."

Aigis sighed. The Dark Hour was supposed to remain classified information from anyone who isn't a Persona user or connected to either the Kirijo Group or the Nanjo Group. On the other hand, based on what she just heard Aigis figured there weren't many people around anymore who cared about protocol, if any. Plus, it's not like she could just keep it a secret from these two forever…

"Listen. Until I get this whole situation figured out, what I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. Understood?"

"Okay." 2B seemed to have enough courtesy to entertain confidentiality.

"Fine with me." 9S leaned in intently as Aigis spoke.

"How would you react if I told you there are more than 24 hours in a day?"

* * *

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_3:00_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

White is a busy woman.

Ever since she took on the position of the Commander of one of the most advanced android forces in the world, she's had to work nonstop to gain traction in the ongoing war. Between playing ambassador to the Council of Humanity, maintaining communications among the Operators, deciphering old world texts and records, and keeping some of the more temperamental YoRHa androids in check, White had almost no time to rest and recharge her batteries, so to speak. And the stress only piled on whenever she had to make her more...cruel decisions in the name of YoRHa. She knew they were for the greater good, but it didn't stop the pangs of guilt she felt when the hard decisions came.

So it was no surprise to her that the stress eventually took its toll and she started seeing hallucinations.

They started about four years ago. White knew exactly why. That mission was one of her greatest sources of regret in her entire career, and ever since she kept having a nightmarish recurring vision: the lighting of the bunker takes on a haunting green glow, blood splatters appear along the walls and floor, and every single one of her subordinates transforms into a coffin. It was as if she knew deep in her subconscious that most YoRHa members would eventually be sent to their inevitable demise by her hand, and this was how it manifested. What confused her most, though, was every time they occurred, when the hallucinations ended it was if time was resuming after being stopped. She wrote it off as just her mind working in overdrive after all the stress, but there was something quite unnatural about it. Especially during her last bout of hallucinations when she felt...something indescribable. It was almost as if she felt somebody else's presence.

"Commander!"

A perky voice dragged White out of her thoughts. One of the operators, set apart from the others by her signature braids and infectious smile that somehow could be sensed even with her veil over her mouth, stood up and waved to get the Commander's attention.

"6O. Do you have something to report?"

"I'm getting a request from 2B to patch a line directly to you. She's saying it's urgent business."

2B. White knew the kind of android 2B was. She never used the "urgent" tag lightly when it came to her affairs.

"Wait, 2B, are you sure? You know this could be taken the wrong way..." 6O held the top of her veil to her ear as if to help her listen more clearly. "...Alright, if you insist."

"What did she want now?"

"She says you need to be alone for this. Apparently this matter needs to be discussed in private."

White sighed. She hated leaving the main command hall while there was still work to be done on the field. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

"Okay, I'm going to go to my quarters. 6O, you handle communications while I'm away."

"On it, Commander!" 6O immediately jumped up and ran down the steps to get to the main communications desk, and White mentally prepared herself for whatever bombshell 2B was going to drop on her this time.

* * *

White was not mentally prepared.

"An android from 1999?! That's before the Machine Wars even started...Before the Great Calamity, even…"

"I know. But that's not the main reason I'm concerned." 2B looked to her right side. "The android in question just informed me of something that I would have called unbelievable, had I not seen the results of it with my own eyes."

"...Let me speak with this android. It would be best if I heard everything from her, if what you're saying holds water."

"Understood. She does not speak Chaos, so you're going to have to talk with her in Japanese."

"I had a feeling." White thanked her lucky stars androids were programmed with old world languages. She saw the 2B on display move off the screen to the right, and in her place came a golden-haired android with what appeared to be red earphones.

" _...Can you understand me?"_ White attempted to enunciate her syllables slowly just in case.

" _I can understand you loud and clear. You are the Commander of this 'YoRHa' squadron, as I understand it?"_

" _Correct. And what may I call you?"._

" _Aigis."_

" _I'd like to ask a few questions before we get to your business, Aigis. Don't take it personally, I just need this info to report to my superiors."_

" _Affirmative."_ Aigis gave a curt nod.

" _Could you describe to me what happened before you were deactivated?"_

" _...The last place I was active before I was recently awakened was in the Kirijo Laboratory on Yakushima."_ Aigis began to reminisce. " _Right before that I was on a mission with other Seventh-Generation Shadow Weapons that ended...disastrously, to put it bluntly. I don't remember all the details unfortunately, but I do know I was the sole survivor and placed in the safety of one of the charging pods as a result."_

" _I see."_ White placed her hand under her chin. " _I have never heard of this Yakushima or Kirijo Laboratory of which you speak. They were probably lost to time. Can you describe their location so I may update my records?"_

" _Yakushima is a remote island a little less than an hour southwest of our location. The laboratory is..._ was  _connected to the mansion and home of one of the leaders of the Kirijo Group, Takeharu Kirijo. Though when I left the labs, the mansion was completely submerged underground."_

" _Hmm...what you're describing lines up with a mission one of the Resistance leaders assigned a while back. An island which happens to be southwest of your current position is the subject of an ongoing excavation mission. And the person in charge of the mission is…"_

White gave a sigh when she read the name in the file.

"...of course. It would be her."

" _I'm sorry? I didn't catch that."_ Aigis tilted her head in response to White's brief reversion to Chaos.

" _Nothing. I just have a feeling I know why you were awakened now. But don't worry about it. I'd like to finally hear what this supposedly unbelievable matter is."_

Aigis closed her eyes, took a quick breath, then looked directly at White's holographic projection.

" _Do you have any knowledge on the phenomenon known as the Dark Hour?"_

" _...I have never heard of this."_ White took out a small notepad just in case.

" _The Dark Hour is a special period in time only a few people can experience. It is a hidden hour in the day that occurs every night at midnight."_

" _...You do realize there's no such thing as night and day anymore, correct?"_

" _I was surprised to discover that, yes. I've been meaning to ask someone why, but I imagine that's irrelevant right now. What matters is the Dark Hour continues to occur in spite of the state of the lack of day/night cycle. I know because I was awoken right as it started."_

" _I see...What happens during this 'hidden hour'?"_

" _The world transforms. During this time period is when extra-dimensional beings that we call Shadows appear. Our studies in their behavioral patterns in the past were inconclusive, but what we do know is that they preyed on the minds of humans and caused a disease we called Apathy Syndrome."_

" _Now THAT I have definitely heard of from the old world records."_  White shuddered when she recalled the old photographs from directly before that fateful day. " _Those afflicted with Apathy Syndrome essentially become empty husks, staring into the sky with blank expressions for the rest of their lives until either the disease stops or they starve to death. Am I correct?"_

" _Exactly."_

" _I recall records saying the disease had no known cause and as a result no one ever found a cure. You're telling me these 'Shadows' are the reason behind it?"_

" _Correct. We don't know why, but there were occasions where regular humans found themselves experiencing the Dark Hour. If they didn't have the power to defend themselves, the Shadows would attack them and essentially eat away at their minds. When the Dark Hour ended, they were left as the empty husks you described."_

White was somewhat unnerved as she thought how to ask her next question.

" _...Is it possible for an android to develop Apathy Syndrome?"_

" _I am uncertain. However, I do believe there is a possibility. I saw three Shadows attempt to chase after 9S and 2B. In hindsight they were probably going to be fine, but I wanted to be completely sure the Shadows didn't end up bringing them into the Dark Hour."_

" _...How do you know they would have been safe?"_

" _They had been transmogrified at the time."_

" _...Transmogrified?"_

" _During the Dark Hour, most humans changed their form to that of a coffin. The Shadows will not be able to attack them in that state. Apparently the same applies to androids nowadays."_

White froze at that line.  _A coffin…?_

" _Aigis...when you experience the Dark Hour..._ how do I put this... _does the world take on a greenish tint?"_

Aigis widened her eyes. " _Yes, it does. Why do you ask...?"_

The Commander put away her notepad and gave an urgent look into the projection. " _Aigis, I'm going to have to speak with you about this in person. Preferably before 00:00. I'll have three flight units sent down to pick up you, 2B, and 9S. Those two should be able to help you with the controls."_

" _Um...That won't be necessary."_ Aigis pointed at her back. " _I have my own flight functionality installed. I'm pretty sure I have enough fuel to travel to wherever your current base is."_

" _...We're in a satellite orbiting Earth. Are you sure you'll be able to make it that far?"_

" _I am positive."_

" _Alright, if you insist."_  White pressed a few buttons on a nearby control panel. " _I guess it costs less this way if you happened to get attacked on your way up here. But I still want 2B and 9S to escort you in the event that any machines are patrolling the skies. It seems all the flight units are currently occupied, but the minute two become available I'll send them down. When 2B's and 9S' flight units reach you, meet me in the main terminal as soon as possible."_

" _Understood."_

" _Good. Now, I have to make a call to an old friend of mine…"_ White made no attempt to hide the exasperation in her voice.

* * *

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Mysterious Island_

_4:00_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

"Jackass! You got a call from the YoRHa Commander!"

Jackass groaned. As much as she enjoyed her increasingly few conversations with White, it had not been a good day for her mission. Exploration around the building had been fruitless for the most part, and the one lead she did have...well, she didn't want to talk about it. All she had to show for results so far were a couple of old documents written in Japanese, and most of them were too esoteric to make heads or tails of them.

_Oh well. Let's get this over with, I guess._  Jackass took the holographic projector into a side room and turned it on to answer the call.

The lights turned on and created a projection of an android with long, flowing blonde hair, accentuated by the rather large hair decorations she had on either side of her head. She had her usual stern look on her face that Jackass had become so accustomed to.

" _Jackass. It's been a while."_

"No kidding, White. How's YoRHa been treating you lately? Any particular problem units recently?" Jackass said with a slight chuckle.

" _You could say that. Has anything of interest come up on that excavation mission of yours?"_

"Not much, I'm afraid. I got a bunch of old documents mentioning stuff about this 'Kirijo Group', but nothing on what it actually is or what it does.

" _Really? That's intriguing."_  Jackass started to notice a bit of contempt coming from White's tone of voice. " _Then let me cut right to the chase. You've been reviving ancient androids again, haven't you?"_

"What? No! Of course not!" Jackass attempted to keep a facade of ignorance, but that question started to make her panic.  _I never told anyone what happened in the lab, and I'm almost positive I made sure to not be followed…_

" _Jackass, don't lie to me. I already know. The android in question just spoke to me and she's currently staying at the Resistance Camp."_

"I have no idea what you're talking about."  _That's impossible. There's no way she managed to just disappear and suddenly reappear miles away. She should've been fried._

" _Golden hair, blue eyes, red headphones, human looking face but mechanical looking everywhere else. Am I painting a clearer picture? Not to mention she also told me about a 'Kirijo Group'."_

_Shit. How is that even possible?_

" _I'll take your surprised looking expression as a confirmation. You can't hide anything from me, Jackass."_

Jackass sighed. Of course, the two knew each other too well to keep secrets from each other. There was no way she was winning this battle.

"...Fine. You caught me. I came across this laboratory hidden in the building and saw the android inside one of these pods that I'm pretty sure are defunct charging stations. I figured she might have some old world knowledge and more info about the 6-12 incident, so I gave her a shock with my defibrillator to bring her back, but when I did she just suddenly disappeared. In hindsight I may have, uh, upped the voltage a little too much, and I assumed she exploded or something."

White sighed and closed her eyes. " _Jackass, you know you aren't supposed to be pulling these stunts without the proper authority from the Council of Humanity. Remember what happened last time you did something like this?"_

"That was one time! And I'm pretty sure you wanted to do it too, if I'm remembering right!"

" _I wasn't the Commander of YoRHa at the time! You do realize that I have the duty to report you for disciplinary action now, correct?!"_

"...Man, fuck the Council. They take too goddamn long to authorize anything related to ancient technology. You know why I did what I did. If I didn't revive her then, she'd likely be sleeping for another millennium if we're lucky."

White sighed. " _I know. And the most frustrating thing is you ultimately made the right decision in the long run."_

"...Come again?"

" _The android was deactivated in 1999, before the start of the Great Calamity. But she did bring me knowledge of something terrifying that has been hidden from us for even longer. If she hadn't been revived, we likely would never have obtained this intel."_

"Ha!" Jackass gave White a triumphant smirk. "See? What did I tell you?"

" _That doesn't mean you'll be free from consequence. I can only do so much. We can't let our personal relationships get in the way of business, especially during wartime."_

"Aw, come on! How many people know about this, anyway?"

" _...Just you, me, and the android, admittedly."_

"Right? As long as no one else finds out about this there shouldn't be any reason to report it."

White gave an exasperated sigh. " _...Fine. But I'm still holding you accountable. You are to ensure no harm comes to the android. She's a combat model, but she's a combat model from ten thousand years ago."_

"Gotcha. I'll see if there's any way to get her up to speed with modern standards."

" _That wasn't what I meant-"_

"That's what I choose to interpret it as. Try to call me more often, by the way. Our talks are nice." Jackass pressed a button to sign off, ignoring the growing groans of frustration coming from the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally going to be split up, but I personally felt none of the potential cliffhangers in the chapter breaks would really work well, so you get a bit of a longer chapter than normal today.
> 
> So, Commander White and Jackass. You can probably guess by this chapter that they're going to be playing a more significant role in this story than they did in their home game, hence why I decided to cut to the chase and get right to their personal relationship. A lot of it is going to involve headcanons since we were never given any explicit information beyond Jackass being one of the few people who knows White's real name. And on that note, I debated whether or not I would reveal her name this early in the story, but I also really wanted to have this part of the story told from her perspective for reasons that should be quite apparent, and having her being called "The Commander" every single time just felt really weird if it was supposed to be from that point of view. And for my money, I think her name isn't a particularly important spoiler to worry about compared to some of the other, more significant reveals that will happen way later. I hope everyone who reads this understands.
> 
> And side note: Jackass is one of those characters that is a both a challenge to write yet also super fun after it's all said and done.


	5. The Resistance Camp

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Resistance Camp_

_12:00_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

Waiting for two available flight units took a bit longer than the Commander and Aigis anticipated. The Commander ensured her, 9S, and 2B that the moment they were available for use she would send them down immediately, but they would have to stay at the Resistance Camp in the meantime. Aigis had finally managed to get some sleep after telling everything to 2B and 9S, but it didn't stop her anxiety.

Suddenly, Aigis heard a knock.

"Hey, Aigis. It's 9S. I'm here with 2B and the leader of the Resistance. Is it alright if we come in and talk?"

Aigis silently walked over and opened up the door. Accompanying 9S and 2B was a woman wearing a dark green hood that draped over her body like a cape. Her clothes were dusty and ragged like those of the rest of the Resistance, and attached to her hip was an assault rifle and a bag of various supplies.

"Greetings," said the new woman. "You must be Aigis. These two filled me in on your situation. My name is Anemone."

_We didn't mention the Dark Hour,_  9S mouthed with a wink after seeing Aigis' brief look of concern.

"...I realize how stressful this whole thing must be for you, so I won't bother you too much about it. Just know that if you ever need any help, I and the rest of the Resistance are available."

"...Thank you," Aigis finally said. "If I'm being honest, I've been wanting to get out of this room for a couple hours, but I felt a bit...out of place."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Would you like me to give you a tour of the camp to make yourself more comfortable?"

"...I guess that would be fine."

"Before you do," 2B interrupted, "apparently I'm supposed to give you something, Aigis." She reached behind her back and pulled out what looked like an ornate sword handle with no blade.

"Oh, right," Anemone said with a groan. "The weapons dealer gave that to you, didn't he?" 2B nodded.

"What's this about?" asked Aigis.

"His boss insists on giving these sword handles to anyone who comes to this camp. She calls them 'good luck charms', but when I tried telling her they were unnecessary, she threatened to cut off our access to her supply." Anemone sighed, and Aigis caught her saying "weirdo" under her breath. "She's our main source of weaponry, so we've found it's easier to just go along with her."

"...Okay, I don't see any harm in taking this."

"Alright," 2B responded as she handed over the handle. "9S and I have an errand to run for one of the merchants, so call us if the flight units arrive before we do."

"Understood." With that, the trio left the room, and 2B and 9S set off, leaving Aigis alone with Anemone.

"Alright." Anemone gestured Aigis to follow her. "We'll start over on the left and go from there."

* * *

"This is the general rest area." Anemone led Aigis to an area under the tents with a few benches and a red-haired YoHRa android standing around. "We have a jukebox here that's open to anyone as long as they provide the song files."

"...What kind of music is usually played nowadays?"

"Mostly folk music. There are these two android songwriters named Emi and J'neque that are really popular with the Resistance. Something about their style is alien and unnerving yet at the same time soothing and beautiful."

"Huh. When I was still in active combat, most of the scientists I worked with listened to hip-hop. I wonder if that's still around."

Anemone cocked her head. "I've never heard of that genre. What is 'hip-hop'?"

_I never thought I'd ever see the day that our contemporary music becomes ancient history,_  Aigis mused.  _This is very strange._

* * *

"...and this is the main storage area." Anemone looked in the building and sighed. "We really need to organize this place, badly."

Aigis took a look inside for herself. Sure enough, there were crates lying all around the floor sloppily. But as she scanned the area, she noticed two androids in the back of the room attempting to lift the crates onto the nearby shelves. The two of them looked almost identical save for their hairstyles-both of them had bright red hair, but one kept it straight and controlled while the other let it stay open and wavy.

"I think those two are taking care of it, Anemone."

"Which two?...Ah, he got the twins to help out." Anemone shook her head. "Well, I guess it could be worse."

"...Am I missing something here?"

"It doesn't concern you. Come on, I still have more shops I need to show you."

Anemone tried to brush it off, but Aigis could have sworn she almost saw a look of pity on her face.

_What's the deal with those twins…?_

* * *

"...and this is where we do work on YoRHa's Pods. Giving them new programs, upgrading their output, that sort of thing."

"...Pods?"

Anemone turned around. "Do you recall the small floating boxes that accompanied 9S and 2B all the time? Those are called Pods. They assist YoRHa in all sorts of ways. Long range gunfire, shields, holographic projections for communications, etcetera."

"Right. 2B used hers to call the Commander," Aigis recalled. "I was wondering why those two only had melee weapons. The Pods are their equivalent of guns?"

"Yes. You haven't seen them fight before?"

"...No," Aigis admitted. "The only time we were in a combat situation, I was only focused on my own fight. But apparently they finished quick enough to watch mine afterwards."

"Yeah," Anemone said with a laugh. "Knowing those two I'm gonna guess it only took a few seconds. You should pay attention to them next time. They're honestly two of the most impressive models around right now. We may get a leg up on this war yet."

"Noted."

"Alright, I think that about wraps up the tour." Anemone took out a device from her pocket. "That killed about...an hour or so. No word from the Commander yet, either."

Aigis sighed. "Well, I'm not sure what else I can do besides just sit and wait for the flight units to arrive...I think instead of sitting in my room I'll go listen to that jukebox."

Anemone chuckled. "Alright. I'm sure that red-haired YoRHa Battler can give you some recommendations. She's there almost all the time when not on duty."

And with that, Aigis sat down in front of the jukebox and slowly drifted away to the sound of a distant piano and a quiet guitar.

* * *

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Resistance Camp_

_23:05_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

" _The flight units are on the way."_

"FINALLY!" 9S shouted at the top of his lungs. "What took so long?"

" _4S,"_ the Commander said, as if that would explain everything.

"Oh." Apparently it did for 9S. "Damn it, I wish he'd stop getting distracted during his missions. We can't keep getting delayed because he found a weird book or something."

" _Trust me, I know. It's a discussion I'll have with him soon enough."_ The Commander took a deep breath. " _Anyway, you three will need to book it. I'm sending the units to where you two last landed. Make sure you all get to the Bunker before the day ends."_

"Got it," 9S said as he signed off. "Alright Aigis, follow us."

"...Wait, we're leaving the camp? Why won't the flight units be sent straight here?"

"Safety precaution," 2B replied. "The sky's usually being patrolled by the machines, and we don't want them to follow us directly to our base."

"I see. That's understandable."

"Don't worry, it's not that far a walk," 9S reassured Aigis. "We'll be there in no time"

"I hope so. How long will it take to fly to your home base?"

"Last time it took us about half an hour. We're gonna be cutting it close."

"Let's not waste any time, then," 2B affirmed as the trio began running to the takeoff spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week, this is mostly a setup chapter for other things that will happen later. Consider it a break after the huge amount of info we got last time, heh. Next week is when we really start to get into the action.


	6. Race to the Bunker

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ City Ruins_

_23:30_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

 

The flight units finally hovered down to where the trio waited. The units were quite advanced pieces of machinery, reminding Aigis of a smaller version of all those mecha shows the scientists at the labs used to watch. It was quite impressive to see such a thing in real life and not in fiction. The cockpits opened up, leaving room for a single android in each of them.

"Alright, we have no time to waste." 2B stepped into her unit on the left, and 9S followed suit by hopping into the one on the right. "Let's go."

The suits fired up and started hovering in the air. Aigis responded by activating the rockets on her back, and began hovering with them. The suits morphed into a form similar to a jet, and began flying to the north, and Aigis followed suit. She had about half a tank of fuel by her estimates after her trip into the ruined city, which she figured should be enough to fly to the satellite and back.

"Alert: Enemy machines approaching from the right." After a good bit of uneventful flying, the deep, monotone voice of 2B's Pod chimed in. "Prepare to engage."

Right on cue, a line of machines sitting in hovercrafts began charging into the trio's flight path. They began shooting slow moving red orbs that looked almost supernatural. They quickly filled up the entire path of their flight, but 2B and 9S cleared paths by shooting some balls of light of their own. Aigis decided to try it herself while flying in 2B's path, and sure enough, her bullets were able to burst the machines', even though hers were too weak to damage the machines themselves.

"2B, 9S, focus on destroying the machines. I can take care of the enemy fire."

"Got it!" 9S traveled through the path that Aigis cleared, and took out a humongous sword. He made a single swipe, and all the machines that were in its path were annihilated. 2B at the same time took out a sword of her own, and while dodging and weaving through the enemy fire, did a sword slash of her own that was so powerful it created an energy blast that plowed through the enemies' bullets and still had enough momentum to destroy the machines themselves.

"More enemies incoming!" Aigis called out. This time they came in from behind, attempting to flank the group. Aigis looked behind her and created a fan of bullets to suppress the enemy fire. It wasn't enough to stop all the bullets though, and a few managed to sneak through and hit the group.

"AUGH!"

Despite moving so slow, Aigis found out the hard way that the bullets had the force of a sledgehammer. There was no way she could take too many hits like that and stay aloft.

"Aigis! Are you alright?!" 2B slowed down a bit to let Aigis pass her, then swung her sword to intercept some of the incoming machine ships.

"Yes...but those orbs hurt. How can something so slow be so painful?"

"They're magic-based!" 9S yelled as he held out his hand in the direction of a machine. "The force is amplified because of the maso inside of them! You gotta make sure to dodge them!"

"Understood!" Aigis increased the thrust on her rockets to elevate herself more.

"We're exiting the mesosphere!" 9S shouted. "We're about halfway to the Bunker!"

And as if on cue, the sky began to darken as the trio entered the thermosphere. But the seemingly endless machines continued to stay on their tail, and two of them in particular stood out to Aigis.

"We have a new kind of machine incoming!" Aigis said as she continued to shoot away the enemy bullets. "It has an X design with cannons and blades on each of its ends! Two of them are approaching!"

"Argh! Medium flyers!" 9S grunted out in frustration. "Those things can be annoying! Wait...I can see the Bunker in the distance! Aigis, speed up to get there as quick as you can! We'll take care of these!" 9S's flight unit began to morph back into its original state when it first took off, and 2B's followed suit.

"Okay!" Aigis responded. She put her rockets on full throttle and darted at the small disc looking object in the distance.

_...It's 23:50. I have ten minutes to get there._

But just in that moment, her flight path was cut off by one of the medium flyers from earlier attempting to saw through her.

_No…! One of them slipped past 2B and 9S! Why is it targeting me?!_

Aigis continuously dove and swooped as the machine attempted to rip her apart, and all the while she still attempted to keep eyes on her target. Suddenly the machine raced ahead of Aigis with a burst of speed, then stood in the distance in front of her. It began rotating in a gyroscopic fashion, and the glowing red orbs began shooting out of its limbs in an erratic fashion, soon creating an massive sphere made up of the little orbs.

_Nine minutes…_

Aigis attempted to navigate the maze of bullets, ducking and weaving through the endless blasts and using her own guns every once in a while to clear a path. But the machine continued to rain down gunfire while strafing across the space, causing the pattern to be altered and leaving Aigis disoriented as to which direction the bullets were headed. It didn't take long for her to slip up and get nailed by a couple of blasts, causing her to scream in agony.

_Eight minutes…_

Aigis began to panic as she was surrounded by nothing but the energy blasts, the sight of which half covered up the Bunker that felt further and further away.  _I don't have a choice._ She let loose a barrage of her own bullets in order to give herself some room, then proceeded to initiate the sequence to release her inhibitors.

_Seven minutes…_

"ORGIA MODE, ACTIVATE!"

The systems in her body clocked into overdrive, which caused an enormous release of energy that was able to destroy all of the orbs surrounding her and even send the machine back a few meters. It attempted to charge at Aigis again, but this time Aigis interrupted it with a series of high velocity shots that managed to actually pierce the machine in the center. Aigis noticed this and realized this was her opportunity. She darted at the machine and began to unleash all the gunfire in her hands to the machine's head.

_Six minutes…_

The bullet holes were visible all across the metal on the machine's body, but it wasn't quite destroyed yet. It aimed all of its cannons directly at Aigis to attempt a full assault. Aigis rolled out of the way as the rapid-fire bullets came raining down on her. She flew up and then descended on top of the center of the machine, somehow avoiding all the incoming fire thanks to the burst of energy from Orgia Mode. She stood on the machine's head, aimed downward, and shot right at her feet.

*BANG*

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The machine suddenly froze all activity as the eyes once again powered down. Aigis leapt off and immediately corrected her course for the Bunker, paying no mind to the now disabled machine as it exploded in the distance.

_Five minutes…_

Now not only did Aigis have to race against the beginning of the Dark Hour, she had to get to the Bunker before she began overheating from using Orgia Mode. She felt she only had a couple of minutes before she would be forced to cool down, so she used the remaining energy to rocket at almost supersonic speeds. Eventually the satellite's hangar came in to view, and Aigis eased up on the fuel going to her rockets.

_...Four...minutes…_

She almost tripped over her own feet as she landed in the hangar, then ran into the elevator in the back of the room. She could feel the fatigue setting in as she jumped in and let it lift her into the main hallway. A YoRHa android stood in her way when the elevator reopened, but Aigis had no time to lose.

"I need...to speak...with the Commander…"

The android opened her mouth a bit in shock, but answered. "She should be in the main terminal. Go out that door and to the left, it's the first door you'll come across.

"Thank you…" When she exited the room, she ran across the seemingly endless hallway then came to a room with a logo adorning the floor. She checked her internal clock.  _Three...minutes…_

She was able to get into the room, but that was the last thing she could do before she finally gave into the fatigue. The last thing she remembered before passing out were a bunch of women wearing veils over their mouths running in her direction.

* * *

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Bunker_

_Dark Hour_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

 

"...gis...an y...r me?!"

Everything was a blur, but Aigis finally opened her eyes and saw a figure in white.

"I repeat, Aigis, can you hear me?!"

The second time the figure shouted startled Aigis enough to mostly wake her up out of her cooldown. "Yes...I can hear you…" The world finally came into focus, and when Aigis sat up, she saw she was on the floor being looked over by a the face she saw over the holographic projector earlier.

"Commander…?"

"Yes. Thank heavens you're awake. I was afraid you might have been in a coma for the entire night."

"Entire...night…?" Then it hit Aigis. She was sitting in a pool of blood on the floor, and every single seat in the room was being occupied by wooden coffins.

"...We're in the Dark Hour."

"Indeed," the Commander replied.

"...You can experience the Dark Hour."

"...Yes. I've been able to for quite some time, but I didn't realize exactly what it was until you came along," the Commander explained. "I always thought it was just a recurring nightmare. It's why I wanted you here tonight."

"And you haven't fallen victim to the Shadows yet?"

"...The strange thing is I haven't ever seen anything in the Dark Hour besides the coffins. Is that unusual?"

"That depends. How long  _have_  you been able to experience the Dark Hour for?"

"Four years, give or take."

"And you have not seen anybody else experience the Dark Hour with you?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Then I have a theory. The Shadows are avoiding you. You may have the potential."

"The potential?"

"When someone experiences the Dark Hour and doesn't get attacked by Shadows, it usually means the Shadows are avoiding the person out of the fear that they may develop the means to fight them. We call that 'the potential.'"

"Hm…" The Commander stood up and began pacing the room. "Even if I do have this potential that you speak of, I don't know how much use I will be. I'm bound to my main job as YoRHa Commander, which means I need to stay at the Bunker at almost all times. Any fighting I can do will likely be limited to here and nowhere else. And considering I haven't seen any Shadows yet...Wait..."

"Commander?"

"Do you feel that? I sense...something in the hallways."

Aigis couldn't actually feel anything herself, but this caused her to wonder.  _Could it be…?_

"Let's go check it, then." Aigis stood up, then activated her rockets once again. "Can you get to the entrance by yourself?"

"...What do you mean?"

"Electronics shut down during the Dark Hour. The elevator over there is out of order, and that seems to be the only way to the exit unless you can jump that high."

The Commander chuckled a bit in response. "I can jump high, but not that high. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Grab onto my shoulders. I can carry you up."

The Commander did just that, and Aigis put a little more power into her boosters while jumping in the air. She barely managed to clear the barricade, and let the Commander go the minute she touched the floor. With that out of the way, Aigis forced the sliding door open to let her and the Commander through, then ran into the hallway.

"I feel it coming from...up there. That must mean it's on the other side of the Bunker." The Commander began running to the right, and Aigis followed suit.

"Oh...Oh my God…"

Aigis caught up to the Commander, and suddenly saw the reason for her shocked outburst. A Shadow had managed to board the Bunker, and it was a particularly huge one taking up most of the floor space.

"Commander! Get behind me!" Aigis readied her guns and prepared to fight the humongous monster, but the Commander was a bit slow to respond to Aigis' order.

"Hold on...you said I had the potential to fight these creatures, right? How?"

"Commander, if you attempt to attack it now you're barely going to leave a scratch! Just stay behind me, I'll take care of this."

"...Alright. Normally I don't take orders from androids I've just met, but I think you're better qualified in this particular situation." She darted behind Aigis as she let out a hail of bullets to draw the Shadow's attention. The Shadow flinched, then laid its eyes on Aigis as it began to morph in a cloud of black smoke, eventually revealing an enormous beetle with a mask on its horn labeled with the roman numeral IV.

"Oh that's just repulsive…" Aigis heard from behind her as she assumed a battle stance and called out.

"Persona!"

Blue fire erupted from Aigis' body, and once again Palladion emerged from the flames above Aigis' head.

"Kill Rush!"

The Persona drove her spear right into the shell of the beetle and began drilling, but it proved to not be very effective as the beetle barely even flinched from the impact. The Shadow proceeded to bulldoze through the Persona, causing it to fade away and leaving Aigis vulnerable to the beetle's charging.

"Eargh! Agh! Oof!" Aigis grunted in pain as the beetle smacked her around with its horn repeatedly. She rolled out of the way before the beetle hit her for a fourth time, but the damage was clearly taking its toll.

"Alright...let's see if guns are more effective."

Aigis shot a few rounds of from her hands. This time the beetle didn't seem to take  _any_  damage as it charged once again into Aigis, this time hitting her in a single blow so hard it knocked her into the window.

"AIGIS!" the Commander called out as she rushed towards the downed android. "Aigis, are you ok?!"

"...yeah, I'm still alive...but I don't know how much more I can take. I might be able to do more if I could get that bug on its back and expose its underside, but none of my Persona's attacks can do that kind of damage to it...ugh…" Aigis looked about ready to faint.

"Persona? Is that what that being that appeared over your head is called?"

"...Yes...it's what allows us to fight against Shadows...you wouldn't stand a chance without one, and I can barely hold together even with one...We have to get out of here…"

"No! You said those things can potentially attack the androids here, right?! We can't let that happen." The Commander steeled her resolve as she turned to face the beetle. It appeared to be gathering energy, this time for an even more powerful blow than the last time. The Commander widened her eyes as she stood to shield Aigis.

"Aigis! Quick! How do I summon a Persona like you did?!"

"...won't work...you need…"

Then Aigis noticed. The sword at the Commander's hip.  _It has the same handle as the empty one 2B gave me..._ except now it had become a full fledged sword glowing with a bright blue light and an ornate pattern on the blade. A quite familiar pattern to Aigis, for that matter…

The Commander followed Aigis' eyes and picked up the sword, studying the blade for a quick moment. Her eyes widened, closed, then narrowed in what appeared to be a sequence of finally understanding. As the beetle began to rush at the two one last time, the Commander raised the sword in her left hand and stretched it outward.

"...Glory to mankind."

And in a manner almost similar to a salute, she drove the sword straight into her chest.

* * *

"Hey, 2B?"

"Yeah, 9S?"

"This isn't a dream, right? Our flight units stalled and we're stuck in the middle of space in front of a glowing green moon?"

"...That about sums up the situation, yes."

"And did some of those machines...turn into coffins?"

"...Affirmative."

"...Shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I said at the start that this is my first attempt at a fanfic? Yeah, I discovered pretty quickly how hard action scenes are to write properly. They're kinda eating away at the buffer I had for this story along with a few other projects I work on, so while it hasn't happened yet I may have to eventually slow down from my current pace of once a week. But thanks for reading regardless! It's nice to see people interested in this story. I will try to keep this an ongoing project even if I do end up running out of my buffer.


	7. Resolutions

  _Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Bunker_

  _Dark Hour_

  _ **Days until Full Moon: 1**_

 

White couldn't comprehend her actions. She felt herself moving as if she were a woman possessed. There was no situation where she in her right mind would ever consider stabbing herself, and yet that's exactly what she just did. And it wasn't a painless process either. She could feel the burning in her body after the deed was done, but when she looked down she didn't see any blood splatters. Instead, her body began to glow a violent blue, just like she saw Aigis do just a few moments ago.

  ** _I am thou...Thou art I..._**

 A voice that sounded remarkably similar to her own rung inside White's head. The pain continued to burn every inch of her body and mind until a blue flash of lightning struck the area in front of her, sending the beetle flying across the hallway. When she removed the sword from her chest, the pain finally subsided, but White's body continued to glow with a brilliant blue aura. She took a deep breath, then turned around.

 A being had emerged behind White. It was a woman clad entirely in a blinding white robe; so white that one could only barely make out the embroidery of many different symbols at the bottom, including the YoRHa logo as White noticed. Her porcelain face and hair were as white as the rest of her body, and her hair was tied up in a similar style to White's but without her large hair decorations. Instead, on top of her head was a brilliant golden mural crown decorated with 8 block-shaped towers, helf onto her head by white chains attached to her shoulders.

 White closed her eyes, then turned around to see the beetle still flailing around on its back, feeling the woman dissipate behind her. Her senses felt...heightened somehow. Almost as if she could feel what kinds of attacks were more or less effective on the Shadow just by concentrating as hard as she could. More specifically, shocking it with electricity felt like the way to hit it the hardest.  _Is this part of my power…?_

 White shook it off as soon as the beetle started to get back up on its feet. She couldn't get distracted while Aigis was still in peril. She once again took the sword in her left hand and plunged it directly into her heart, this time with a firmer grasp.

 "Destroy that monster, Tyche!"

The Persona reappeared and raised its arms. Her crown began to radiate until sparks began to fly out of it, culminating in a flash of lightning shooting out and directly to the beetle, once again flipping it on its back. It was in that moment that White got a firmer grasp as to what her Persona is capable of, and she decided to use the time she bought to tend to Aigis.

"Help her out," she ordered Tyche. She complied, raising her hands once again to cast a spell on Aigis, causing all the damage from getting thrown around by the beetle to disappear.

"...Thank you. I'd say more, but it looks like we still have trouble." Aigis pointed at the Shadow, slowly rolling itself back over once again. White nodded, then took a stance along with Aigis facing the monster. It spread it wings and raised its horn, psyching itself up for its next attack.

"Aigis! Can your Persona shoot electricity?"

"No! You're going to have to handle that! But is there any way to attack it without magic?"

"You won't be able to shoot it, but if you attack it with brute force while it's turned over it should do some significant damage!"  _Wait_ , White thought.  _Why did she ask me that? Shouldn't her Persona be able to tell her that too?_

But there was no time to dwell on those thoughts. The beetle stampeded right into White's path barely giving her enough time to hold up her arms in an attempt to block the incoming rush. It attempted to charge into Aigis' path as well but this time she was prepared and dove to the side leaving the beetle slightly disoriented. Aigis summoned Palladion, and when the pike began spinning White felt her weight decrease significantly. It even felt like summoning her Persona was easier and quicker, as she stabbed her heart and barked out.

"Zio!"

The flash came almost instantaneously, catching the Shadow off guard and forcing it belly up.

"Alright, it's finally my chance. Palladion! Exterminate it!"

Aigis' Persona wasted no time following the order, and this time when the pike came out it drilled itself into the fleshy body of the beetle, then picked it up began swatting it against the window over and over. The Shadow became more and more dazed with each whack against the glass, and when Palladion let it up the Shadow was struggling to even stay on its feet.

"Commander, it's almost dead! Finish it!"

"Tyche!"

The blast fried the beetle for the last time, and it finally fell to the ground as it dissipated into orange and black smoke. And no sooner had they won the battle than White began to feel light, this time not from Aigis' Persona but from a sudden wave of fatigue.

"I...can't stand up any longer…"

"Commander!" Aigis dashed over and put her hand on White's shoulder. "Awakening to a Persona can be grueling the first time. This is perfectly normal."

"Even for an android…? I thought stamina was...not an issue for us…"

"The fatigue from the Dark Hour is supernatural. So yes, even androids can get afflicted by it. Come, let's head back to the main terminal. We will discuss more there."

White nodded, then wrapped her arm around Aigis' shoulder as she was carried back to the main terminal, struggling to keep her eyes open along the way.

* * *

_Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out,_  9S repeated to himself as if it were a personal mantra.  _It's fine, it's just me and 2B drifting in space together next to an eerie glowing moon surrounded by dozens of deactivated machines and coffins which apparently is what happens in a secret hour of the day where eldritch horrors roam the land and most humans who saw them ended up turning into vegetables and we're not sure if that can happen to androids but there's a non-zero chance oh god I don't want to stare off into space for the rest of my life help me 2B_

"9S!"

"Whatisit2B-"

"Slow down, 9S. You're panicking. Remember, emotions are prohibited." 2B invoked the words 9S had heard so many times before from his operator and the Commander, one of the guiding principles of YoRHa.

_Even though it's complete BS_ , 9S thought.  _I'm almost positive 21O, 2B, and the Commander are the only ones that actually try to follow that rule. But, well, 2B's right for now. I gotta remain calm._

He took a few deep breaths, then proceeded to speak much more slowly.

"We need to attempt to get to the Bunker. At the very least we don't need to worry about the machines anymore, but we can't move anywhere if these stupid flight units stay stalled. Can we turn them back on?"

"...I don't think so. I've been trying to reset my goggles quite a few times now, but they aren't turning back on. Not to mention our Pods are shut down. I believe this is a side effect of the Dark Hour."

"Great," 9S grunted. "Well, we got any other ideas?"

"...I don't know. We might just be stuck here in the middle of outer space until the Dark Hour ends, hoping and praying we don't get attacked by Shadows."

"Wait...Outer space…"

9S looked at the surroundings, and suddenly the light bulb went on in his mind.

"9S? What is it?"

"2B, there's no air resistance in outer space! If we were to just gain a little bit of velocity in the direction of the Bunker, making sure to account for the small effect of Earth's gravity, we should be able to drift all the way to the Bunker without using any fuel!"

"Okay…" 2B narrowed her eyes. "But how are we supposed to gain velocity?...Please don't tell me you're suggesting one of us throws the other and ends up getting left alone here."

9S shook his head furiously. "Of course not! Though what I am suggesting involves a lot of hoping…" He grabbed Pod 153, then reached out his hand towards the nearest coffin, and when that didn't work, he reached out his legs, until he was barely able to get his feet close enough to give the coffin a slight nudge.

Sure enough, 9S started floating slowly in the opposite direction of the coffin, while the coffin itself remained firmly in place.

"Perfect!" 9S smiled as he began to reach out for the coffin directly in his path.

"...So the coffins can't move at all during the Dark Hour, even if we apply force to them." 2B let out an ever so slight chuckle. "Interesting idea." 2B herself was close enough to a coffin that she was able to grip around it, then maneuver herself to aim in the direction of the Bunker. "I don't think we'll be able to push ourselves hard enough to get to the Bunker within an hour, though," noting how great the distance was.

"We don't have to," 9S said as he grabbed onto the coffin in his path. "We just have to go in the general direction and travel far enough that when the machine lifeforms wake up when the Dark Hour ends, we'll be long gone. By then, we should be able to just jet over there since the flight units will probably become functional again."

"This is making a lot of assumptions," 2B pointed out. "We're assuming all of our electronic equipment will suddenly start up again as if nothing went wrong, not to mention we're assuming we don't come across any Shadows."

"Yeah, uh…I don't really want to think about that." 9S felt himself involuntarily shivering. "But I'm pretty sure we'd have as much of a risk getting attacked here as we would out there, and I'd much rather be away from the machines in the event that we don't."

"I know." 2B gave 9S a nod. "I just want to be sure you thought this through. Okay, are you ready?"

"Yeah. When I count to three. One...two...THREE!"

2B and 9S pushed off of the coffins with all their might, and soon enough they found themselves floating away as the coffins became smaller and smaller in the distance.

* * *

_Elapsed time: 00:02:13_

_Reactivation complete. A check of my body reveals various failures. Communication functions have been destroyed. I cannot contact my team or the Bunker. I leave a draft of this message here as a log._

 

_Elapsed time: 00:10:13_

_I verify the plan once more. Using my supposed destruction in this sortie as a guise, I sever all communication, I then pass beneath the abandoned factory and escape. Further analysis reveals that I took anti-air fire while in the flight unit, resulting in damage to my body. No matter-it can be repaired._

 

_Elapsed time: 00:15:21_

_Sensory systems repaired, all vital functions apart from communications are back online. Now it is time to enact the plan in full._

 

_Elapsed time: 00:15:41_

_They're coming_

 

_Elapsed time: 00:16:35_

_They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're coming They're_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back! Sorry I missed last week. Finals happened and I was in a bit of a block that threatened to eat up my buffer, so I decided to take a week off to let things settle down and get back in the groove. Should be able to keep going weekly for a bit now, I hope.
> 
> Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for: someone besides Aigis finally gets a Persona! Since this crossover is primarily based on Persona 3, I decided to stick with its Greek/Roman mythology theme for the cast, though as you can see by me choosing to use one of the more obscure goddesses of the Greek Pantheon for White, I'm going to try and go for some of the less cliche ones...for the most part. If you're curious about what she can do and all that, I'll leave a little thing here at the bottom whenever we get a new Persona.
> 
>  
> 
> Commander White
> 
> Weapon: Riding Crops/Batons (Strike)
> 
> Arcana: Empress (III)
> 
> Persona: Tyche
> 
> Skills: Zio, Dia, Patra
> 
> Resists: Lightning
> 
> Weak: Wind
> 
> Persona Description: A tutelary deity who ensured the good fortune and prosperity of humanity in Ancient Greece. Every city-state had their own specific depiction of her and considered her their own protector goddess.


	8. A Brief Respite

_Tuesday, April 3rd, 11945 A.D. ~~ Outer Space_

_Dark Hour_

_**Days until Full Moon: 1** _

"Sooooooooo…"

9S looked at 2B awkwardly. They had been floating for quite some time now in complete silence and nothing had attacked the duo so far, leaving them very bored and restless. Usually during this time they would talk with their pods, but since they were shut off the only people they had to talk to was each other.

"...Why did those machines turn into coffins, anyway?" asked 9S. "Aigis told us that transmogrification thing usually only happened with humans. I could see it happening to androids since we're meant to be similar in structure, but them?"

"Beats me," said 2B. "I'm still trying to make sense of the Dark Hour in general. A hidden hour in the day that only a select few people can experience, and this has apparently been occuring as long as Aigis was first active, perhaps even longer."

"Yeah, and we never knew about it until just a few hours ago, yet suddenly we're in it...Have you ever heard of any androids developing that Apathy Syndrome thing, though? I certainly haven't."

2B paused and looked at 9S for a moment.

"...No, but we are limited to working at a relatively small part of the Earth. It's possible some cases have happened in other parts of the world and we don't know about it. Aigis did say it wasn't a very common disease."

9S frowned. "I doubt it. She also said our area used to contain the highest concentration of victims because of that Tartarus place. She said the tower is still close to the Resistance Camp, right? It'd make more sense for us to have heard about it before."

2B sighed. "You overthink things too much, 9S."

They sat in silence. The amount of time that passed after that was indeterminable, but long enough to make 9S consider finding a way to keep track of time if he was to experience the Dark Hour ever again. Eventually the waiting became too much to handle.

"...Goddammit, how much longer is this stupid hour gonna go on for?!" 9S suddenly shouted. "I feel like I'm more in danger of dying of boredom than I am from getting attacked by Shadows!"

Thankfully, only a few seconds afterwards, the moon returned to its normal size and color and the rockets on the flight units activated once again. Not a moment later the duo was rocketing to the Bunker at the highest speed they could handle.

* * *

_Wednesday, April 4th ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_00:01_

_**Full Moon** _

Aigis made sure this time to position herself exactly as she was before the Dark Hour so no one else at YoRHa could tell the difference, and the Commander tried her best to do the same. But the fatigue on the Commander's face was much less easy to hide, and several of the androids noticed.

"Voksoyai?" A girl spoke up. She was wearing a different uniform than the dresses Aigis saw most female YoRHa units in. It was closer to a skintight bodysuit that had a sort of diamond pattern on her arms, shoulders, and upper thighs. Closer inspection revealed it was more like a full-body stocking covered up by a black leotard over her trousers and thigh high boots on her legs. She had her blond hair done up in twin braids, and while she wasn't wearing the YoRHa-issue goggles, she did wear a veil over her mouth that reminded Aigis of the goggles in a sense. The Commander spoke back to the girl in her foreign tongue, then she nodded and went back to work, albeit with an obvious worried look on her face.

"Is everything okay, Commander?" Aigis asked.

"Yes, I just did some reassignment for the time being. I need to lay down badly...we can talk about everything in my quarters." She motioned Aigis to the back of the room. Aigis offered her shoulder to support the Commander, but she insisted on getting there without any help. They walked into the room ( _which is quite disorganized for someone who's supposed to be the Commander_ , Aigis thought,  _Is that her underwear on the ground next to the desk?)_ , the Commander closed the door, and then she finally flopped onto the bed like a dead fish.

"Are you sure you can talk like this?" asked Aigis.

"Yes, I can still stay awake. I just needed to lie down."

"...Okay, if you insist." Aigis looked at the Commander's hip where she had put her sword. It had reverted back to its original state of a bladeless handle. "First of all, that sword you stabbed yourself with."

"...I honestly have no clue what was running through my mind. I looked at it once, heard a voice in my head, and suddenly everything came over me. Is that part of the power you mentioned?"

Aigis nodded. "The power of Persona. Which leads me to believe that sword you're holding is actually an Evoker, a special tool we use to summon said Persona."

"An Evoker…Do Evokers always involve that much pain?"

"Yes. Most Evokers back when I was active looked like handguns that we shot ourselves in the head with. Though much like the sword there, it only simulated the feeling of shooting yourself; it never actually did any real damage."

The Commander looked over Aigis once again. "I don't see any guns on you though."

"I was created with fighting Shadows in mind, so I was designed with a special Evoker program. It feels exactly the same."

"Then I have to ask," the Commander said as she rolled onto her back. "Why did you have this sword in the first place? I saw you laying on top of it during the Dark Hour and only took it off of you as a safety precaution."

"...It was a 'gift' by the weapons trader at the Resistance Camp. Apparently his boss insists on giving these handles to everybody as 'good luck charms.'" And that got Aigis to start wondering. "...Perhaps this boss of his knows about the Dark Hour."

"...Perhaps, but I think we'll have to file that away for later." The Commander pointed towards one of her tables. "I feel like I could pass out at any minute, so before I do I need you to press the black button on the desk over there. There's a pressing matter I need your help with to check."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion, but complied anyway. As soon as she pressed the button a clear containment pod of sorts appeared out of the wall next to her. Inside the containment pod was a female YoRHa android wearing the same uniform as 2B, but with yellow hair done in a straight cut as opposed to 2B's bob cut. But most alarming was that her eyes were uncovered and wide open, letting Aigis see the blank expression they made as she stared into Aigis' eyes.

"Uhh...Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"

The android moaned as if she were trying to tell Aigis something, and Aigis immediately figured out why the Commander wanted to make this her priority.

"...She has Apathy Syndrome."

The Commander sighed. "Yes. I was hoping our excursion would have cured her based on what you told me earlier." The Commander shook her head, then closed her eyes. "That's 11B; she was originally part of a squadron I sent three weeks ago to destroy a machine factory and the Goliath-class machines it was building. 2B was part of that squadron, and we assumed she was the only survivor. But as you can see here, a few days later one of the other units found 11B standing around staring into space near the outskirts of the factory and brought her here. She's been like that ever since, even after we tried resetting her to factory settings and transferring her consciousness to new bodies. I had my suspicions, but when you came around there was no doubt in my mind what the cause was."

Aigis looked over 11B. Her pale face only added to the haunting feeling that came over Aigis as they looked at each other. 11B began to mumble to herself, but it she whispered so softly and her lips moved so little that Aigis couldn't make out anything she said.

"...From my experience, it usually takes the destruction of several Shadows to cure a group of people affected by Apathy Syndrome, and it tends to happen all at once. So if we want to cure her, it'll take a few more excursions in the Dark Hour."

"That's going to be a problem." The Commander rolled over in her bed. "Like I told you earlier, I have to stay here in the Bunker at all times so I can manage YoRHa, not to mention it's a horrible tactical decision to have a Commander operating on the front lines. I won't be able to fight Shadows anywhere but here, and like I told you before, I hadn't seen any Shadows here myself until last night. And I'm assuming if you go out to fight them in other places on your own, you aren't going to last long."

"...We'll just have to work these issues out as they come, I suppose." Aigis pushed the button on the desk to put 11B back in the wall. "For now, I suggest that you rest. You won't be able to do anything at all if you're still fatigued when the Dark Hour comes again."

"...I absolutely hate not being out there doing my job, but I suppose you're right." It was subtle, but Aigis could have sworn she saw the Commander break her usual expression for a smile, if only very briefly. "Thank you for all your help, Aigis. I'll be out there before the Dark Hour begins again."

Aigis nodded, then walked outside as the door closed behind her. But as soon as she walked into the terminal, the doors at the top of the room flew open, and two familiar androids came hovering down hanging by their Pods.

"Aigis!" 9S ran over as fast as he could. "You made it! We made it! We're alive! Oh thank god we're alive!"

"...Slow down, 9S," Aigis said as she clamped down on his shoulders to keep him from shivering. "Did something happen after I dashed off?"

"Yes," 2B responded before 9S could, "and we needed to talk to you about it. Where's the Commander?"

"We spoke already, and she's likely fast asleep right now."

2B raised her eyebrows. "Well, okay then. We need to speak with you in private." She cupped her mouth and whispered into Aigis' ears. "We're pretty sure we just experienced the Dark Hour."

* * *

" _Everything is set."_

" _Indeed. We'll release it when the next Dark Hour begins."_

" _Good luck, our little android. Your first ordeal awaits."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three weeks later and one of these upcoming chapters is still kicking my butt in terms of writing. If you know how Persona 3 works and have been paying attention you can probably guess why. I guess that's what I have this buffer in the first place for.
> 
> I don't really like comment-begging and it's admittedly less of a problem here on AO3, but sometimes it does end up feeling I'm screaming endlessly into the void when I post these chapters and all I can really track is the hit counter. Believe it or not I do appreciate constructive criticism! I am a total rookie to this after all. I also just like it when people make speculations even if they're way off base for what I have planned. So I would appreciate any of those things in the reviews. Thank you!


	9. The First Ordeal

_Wednesday, April 4th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_15:00_

_**Full Moon** _

"Let's begin the meeting."

The Commander stood at the head of the table looking at the three other androids in the locked room. Her presence, as always, was as commanding as her title, but she felt exceptionally imposing today after her particularly long rest from earlier. Aigis had told 9S and 2B about the Commander's fatigue after the Dark Hour, but 9S had a sneaking suspicion that she was long overdue for a break regardless if it made this much of a difference.

"I assume Aigis briefed you about what happened last night."

"Sorta. So you can experience the Dark Hour too, Commander?"

"...I have been for quite some time now. I'm not sure if it's better or worse that I now know its true nature. And Aigis told me you two had a similar experience?"

"...Yeah. Frankly, it's a little weird that we get told about this secret hour thing and not a day later we see the effects ourselves." 9S turned to Aigis. "But what's weirder is I don't think we actually saw any Shadows while we were out there. We saw the coffins and the creepy moon, but nothing else."

"Well, there are two possibilities as to why that is," said Aigis. "One is that Shadows don't attack in the middle of outer space, and you were merely lucky to have been there when the Dark Hour happened."

"That was my personal theory," 2B spoke up. "If we were on Earth during that time, we would've been done for."

"...Not if the second possibility is true," said Aigis. "Commander, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to, correct?"

"Indeed. And if it's true, then that makes our little dilemma from earlier much simpler."

"What are you two talking about?" asked 9S.

"You two may hold the potential to use a Persona."

9S looked at the Commander. "Persona...Aigis told us a bit about that back at the Resistance Camp, but that was always confusing to me. All I got out of it was that if you don't have one during the Dark Hour, you're basically screwed. But all that stuff about being a mask and life's hardships and whatnot..."

"Then perhaps I can relate it better to you two," said the Commander. "I just awoke to mine last Dark Hour."

9S then began to wonder if the Commander's resolve today was less from her rest and more from this Persona thing, but he didn't dare say it out loud.

"If I had to compare it to something, I'd say a Persona is much like a summon of sorts that you'd find in ancient human fantasy works and the like. By stabbing myself with this sword here," she said as she patted her hip, "another being appears with incredible power that can fight and destroy any Shadows you come across."

9S subconsciously let his jaw drop.

"...You stab yourself with a sword?! I didn't hear that part from Aigis!" 9S thought he saw the Commander laughing under her breath at his shocked outburst.

"Mostly because I wanted to spare the gruesome details," Aigis interrupted, "but also because that's not how it works for everyone. When we talked at the Resistance Camp, I assumed I'd be the only android with a Persona, and I don't need a physical Evoker to summon it." She turned to the Commander. "I'd also hesitate to call the Persona a separate being, because in essence it's another part of you. The mask that you wear to face life's hardships given physical form. It's an extension of yourself."

"...An extension of myself that can shoot magical lightning," said the Commander.

"Precisely," Aigis said bluntly. "Everyone's Persona has different powers that reflect the user in some form. My Persona, Palladion, specializes in brute force attacks and support, reflecting how I was built to protect humanity and annihilate Shadows. Your Persona, Tyche, apparently specializes in electricity, healing, enemy analysis, and navigation. Perhaps it's worth a bit of self-reflection to figure out why that is."

"...I see."

"Query," came the deep monotone voice of Pod 042, who had been floating around the Commander for a while. "This unit does not see any form of blade on the Commander's supposed sword. Is it just a sword handle?"

The Commander took out the handle and laid it on the table in response. "It is just an ordinary handle for now, but during the Dark Hour it changes into a full sized blade. Whoever designed this clearly had the Dark Hour in mind."

"...I'm pretty sure that's the same sword handle that the weapons trader from the Resistance Camp gave us," 2B noted. "Pod, retrieve the ones we put into virtual space."

"Affirmative." The Pod created a cone of light and the handles materialized onto the table next to the Commander's. Sure enough, the designs matched perfectly.

"...We have to tell Anemone about this," said 2B. "We need to get in contact with the android who made these."

"Hold on," said the Commander. "I've been mulling over this, and I believe we can't let the existence of the Dark Hour become widespread knowledge. The last thing we need during wartime is another reason for the androids to panic. Morale is a very important part of winning any war, and we're only recently getting it back with the second generation of YoRHa. Something like the Dark Hour's existence and effects being brought to light could shatter it entirely."

"But there's a possibility that there are already androids out there with Apathy Syndrome that we don't know about, and that won't be kept under wraps as easily. I'd say a disease without a known cause or cure would incite even more panic." 2B sighed. "We should at least inform those in charge. Perhaps that way we may find others with this 'Persona' power you speak of so we can mitigate the damage."

The Commander paused for a moment. "...Okay, but I still want us to handle this as discreetly as possible."

"I agree," Aigis interrupted, "but for different reasons. I've heard discussion among the Kirijo Group about the possibility of people abusing the Dark Hour, which is partly why it was kept confidential in my time. It would be best to exercise caution now, too."

"Abusing?" 9S raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean that?"

"A few things, but I'm mostly recalling one example in particular. If a person dies during the Dark Hour, they Shadows prey on them in a more...direct manner. Their body dissolves to become one with the Shadows, and when the Dark Hour ends there is nothing left. It would be the perfect way to, say, commit murder without leaving any possible evidence."

The silence after that last statement was almost deafening.

"But...would the same apply to androids?" asked 9S.

"It can and did. Remember that I wasn't the only anti-Shadow weapon from my time...I've seen the results firsthand."

"...Well, those of us at YoRHa probably have nothing to worry about, right?" 9S said in a very feeble attempt to lighten the mood. "As long as we save backups of our memory before each Dark Hour, we should be fine. We have backup bodies for precisely that reason. We just won't remember anything that happened there."

"...Your disregard for your own life concerns me, 9S," Aigis said with a sigh.

9S shrugged. "You get used to it around here."

" _Anyway_ ," groaned the Commander, "we'll decide how we handle the information in a bit. Before we do that, we have business to take care of right here and now."

"You're talking about 11B," said Aigis.

"Correct. If what you told me is correct, then we're going to have to keep fighting Shadows during the Dark Hour if we want to cure her. That is going to be our mission for tonight. 2B, 9S, I want you two on standby in the event that you get dragged into the Dark Hour again, and make sure you have those Evokers on hand. We'll meet back here just before midnight so we don't have to worry about anyone seeing us."

"Got it." 9S turned to Pod 153. "Pod, you heard the Commander."

"Affirmative." The sword handle was already on the table before 9S could even give the order.

"Alright, we meet back in this room at 23:50. Dismissed!"

* * *

 

_Wednesday, April 4th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_Dark Hour_

_**Full Moon** _

"So it wasn't just a fluke last time." 9S looked around to see the walls covered in pools of blood. "Still creeps me out a bit, not gonna lie."

"Honestly, you two have taken to the Dark Hour remarkably well considering." Aigis opened up her fingertips in preparation. "Even people with the potential tend to experience memory loss and severe emotional disturbance the first time they see it."

"Doesn't matter to us," 2B said as she tried getting used to handling her sword without an active NFCS. "Emotions are prohibited."

"...Huh?"

"YoRHa units are trained to repress emotions as best as they can," answered the Commander. "They've proven time and time again to get in the way of rational decision making, and in worse case scenarios…" She looked at the floor with a downtrodden expression.  _Huh,_ thought 9S.  _I've never seen the Commander like_ that  _before._

"...I see. But aren't you all androids? Even if I personally disagree with that line of thinking, isn't it possible to simply alter your programming in order to remove them?"

"God knows we've tried. No matter times we attempt to remove them they just keep...reappearing. It's better for us to just learn to live with them."

"That is...interesting."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A scream cut the group's conversation short. Everyone immediately drew their weapons in response. 2B her Virtuous Contract, 9S his Cruel Oath, and the Commander her riding crop.

"Who was that?" asked Aigis.

The Commander closed her eyes. "...I'm sensing a Shadow in the maintenance area. And...what is this power…?"

"Wait, the maintenance area…" It didn't take much for 9S to put two and two together. "...That scream was the repair shop owner's voice! He's being attacked! We can't afford to lose him!"

"We have to get over there as quickly as possible, then." Aigis forced open the door. "Where is the maintenance area?"

"Out the door and on the opposite end of the building, where we fought that Shadow yesterday. Let's head over there as soon as possible."

The three YoRHa androids grabbed their now active Evokers, and then the group ran out. But right as they did they were immediately confronted with a snag.

"...Right, you three won't be able to get up to the top floor on your own."

Aigis motioned for the Commander to hold on to her first, then lifted off to the top of the room.

_You know, I kinda wish we could fly like she can,_ 9S said to himself _. I get that it's too costly since we would have to add the functionality every single spare model, but it would definitely be more convenient than relying on flight units all the time to get around. Oh well._

When Aigis carried the other two up individually, the group immediately dashed out of the door and ran in the direction of the cries for help coming from the shop owner. But it didn't take long for another obstacle to appear.

"Damn it." The Commander shook her head. "That's right, the maintenance area is only accessible via elevator, and that won't work during the Dark Hour."

"You don't have any emergency stairs?" Aigis ran about the area checking for any other doors just in case.

"...No. I believe we may have become a little complacent in regards to technology." The Commander sighed. "Put 'add emergency routes' on my long list of things to do."

"Stand back." 2B's voice cut in, and she stepped into the unmoving elevator. She flipped the sword in her hand into a reverse grip, lifted it above her head, then dug it into the elevator's floor with all her might. After a few more stabs and a bit of using her blade as a makeshift saw, she cut a hole big enough for each of the group to go through individually.

The Commander glared at 2B. "...You're paying for and repairing that on your own time."

The Commander jumped into the hole before 2B could formulate any kind of retort. She looked at the group, shrugged, then jumped in the hole next, followed by 9S, then Aigis.

"What in the…"

The group turned in the direction of the Commander's voice, then stepped back in shock. The shop owner was on his knees behind the Commander staring in fear of the bizarre creature that had invaded the shop. It was a massive collection of 14 individual black hands, all connected to each other at their base but with no body. Each arm held a large dagger save for one, which instead held a blue frowning mask adorned with the Roman numeral I. The hand holding the mask turned towards the four androids that invaded the maintenance shop, then made a distorted war cry as the rest of the hands raised their daggers in the air.

"What the hell is that thing?!" 9S cried out in fear.

"...This is the source of that massive reading I felt earlier…" The Commander answered. "Its arcana is...The Magician."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Figures when I say I'm gonna try to commit to a weekly schedule I end up skipping the following week anyway because of real life commitments. If it's alright with everyone, I think this will work out better if I do this bi-weekly instead on every other Wednesday. Sorry for slowing down, but I promise I'm still working on this story whenever I have the time.
> 
> Also thanks to those of you who responded last time I asked with reviews and comments! I may not respond directly to each of them, but I really appreciate the feedback you guys give. I also hope this chapter clears up something I've noticed a lot of people keep bringing up: Yes, this story involves the Full Moon Shadows. Yes, that means the events of Persona 3 (and by extension 4 and 5) never actually ended up happening because of Drakengard shenanigans. Yes, that means we're dealing with an Aigis pre-development. And yes, that means everyone's favorite Jesus analogue never actually became a door. We're basically in AU territory in terms of the Persona side of things and a major part of the story is how things changed in the timeline because of that, along with how Aigis' presence affects the setting of NieR Automata.
> 
> However, I am trying to make this story more than just a retread of Automata's plot with Dark Hour shenanigans in the mix--spoiler alert: Aigis will eventually become a Wild Card which means there will be Social Links involved, and with that various slice of life stuff you would expect from the Persona series. But before we get to that, we have to get through the first Full Moon boss, and lemme tell you, I've been having a really, really tough time trying to write this fight well. I am not good at writing action sequences. But I think I'm almost there, and I should probably have it done by the next update time in two weeks. Once I get through that hurdle, it should be relatively smooth sailing for a while.


	10. Arcana Magician

_Wednesday, April 4th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_Dark Hour_

_**Full Moon** _

"Eurgh…!"

The Commander grunted as she braced herself against the onslaught of daggers from the enormous Shadow. Aigis didn't hesitate one bit to rocket in and draw its attention with a series of shots, but it barely flinched as several of the hands deflected the bullets to the nearby mechanisms. All that seemed to do was provoke the Shadow into charging after Aigis, flailing its daggers wildly along the way. She jumped as high as she could, somehow managing to be just barely out of the Shadow's reach as she landed next to the Commander.

"Persona!"

Palladion materialized and got to work once again, a green glow enveloping the Commander after its head opened up. The Commander followed her lead and stabbed herself with her Evoker, calling out Tyche to shoot the Shadow with a bolt of lightning.

_Holy crap_ , 9S thought. He pulled out the Evoker hanging on his hip.  _Could I do that too?..._

But the Shadow raised its arms as the lightning was about to strike it, and as it did so the lightning flowed into the daggers and dissipated into the ground, leaving it completely unharmed. The mask turned towards the white figure that shot the bolt and began rushing in its direction.

"Damn it, lightning's out of the question. What do we do?"

"Focus on keeping us alive." Aigis' Persona opened itself up once again, causing Aigis herself to begin glowing with the same green aura as the Commander. "No offense, but I'm pretty sure a riding crop will not be very effective against something that strong. It's better if I alone do the attacking for now." The Persona revved up its drill as Aigis rushed to meet the oncoming Shadow.

"Maybe a riding crop won't be effective, but a sword might," 2B interjected. "I'll assist."

"2B, no…!" But 2B was gone in the blink of an eye, already running towards the Shadow with Virtuous Contract in hand. The Shadow noticed and immediately swung three of its arms in her direction. She was able to roll out of the way, but her attempt at countering was met by two other daggers blocking the blow, and every subsequent swing made by 2B was parried over and over again with no signs of either side relenting.

_There's another way we might be able to help..._ 9S looked at the glowing sword in his hand.  _But...what if it turns out I can't actually use a Persona? If I try to summon one and I can't, then this could…_

9S couldn't keep the idea of those devastating consequences out of his head. The internal wiring ripped and torn apart, the artificial blood splattering all across the floor, the searing pain coursing through his body, his vision slowly fading to black as he lost all consciousness...for some reason it all felt so vivid to him.

He shook his head.  _Maybe it'd be better if I save this for a last resort._ He tried as best he could to carry Cruel Oath and ran to the side of the shop owner who was still on his knees in the middle of the floor.

"Come on, let's get you somewhere safer."

"This is where it all ends...…This is where I'm going to die…" The shop owner continued to mumble paying seemingly no heed to 9S' instructions.

"Nononono, you're going to be okay! You just gotta work with me here…" 9S lifted up the shop owner and forced an arm around his shoulders, then ran only barely avoiding a rush of arms aimed at him and the shop owner. The Shadow turned its mask towards 9S attempted to chase after it, but was immediately stopped by a charging Palladion with her pike drilling into the mask as fast as she could. The Shadow let out an otherworldly wail of agony, but the damage was nowhere near enough to destroy it completely. It turned to Palladion, raised its hands upwards, then sliced through the Persona in an X pattern, too fast for her to dodge and forcing her to take the entire attack.

"AAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

Aigis cried out in pain and fell to her knees, and though she didn't actually get hit by anything it didn't take much to figure out what hurt her.

"So if a Persona gets attacked, the user feels it as well. Guess we'll have to keep that in mind." The Commander summoned Tyche, and the Persona opened her hands causing a sparking wave of energy to surround Aigis, soothing the pain. But as soon as Tyche appeared, the Shadow took notice of her and aimed its daggers in her direction. A split second later, a cyclone appeared below the Persona, and the air currents effortlessly knocked it into the ceiling, causing the Commander to get knocked upwards as well.

"Commander!"

9S dropped the owner and ran over in an attempt to catch the Commander, but instead ended up crashing to the ground the minute she came down.

"Ugh...wind magic...I won't be able to take many of those…" The Commander shook her head as she tried to sit back up.

"Mmph mmph mmmmmmph!"

"Oh. Apologies, 9S." She rolled over, letting 9S stand back up and pick his sword back up, then summoning Tyche to heal herself.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?! Aigis can barely lay a scratch on it!" noting as the Shadow had once again locked its blades against Palladion's drill in a stalemate while 2B made some futile attempts to cut it up while it was distracted. Aigis attempted to shoot it with her guns, but any bullets she used were immediately deflected away by the free hands the Shadow had.

"...I might have an idea, but I would need to test it, and it involves more than just Aigis and me being Persona users." The Commander looked at 9S, then down to his Evoker, then back up again.

"...Wait, you want me to…?"

"Do it, 9S."

The Shadow roared and pushed all its hands outward, causing Palladion, Aigis, and 2B to all fly into separate walls surrounding the room. They slowly stood back up, then tried once more to get through the swarm of hands surrounding the mask only to get locked in a stalemate with the daggers once again.

"But what if I can't do it?"

"What the hell do you mean, 'what if you can't do it'?!" The Commander rarely shouted, so her sudden outburst took 9S aback some. "You have nothing to lose!"

"Yes I do! If I put impale myself with this thing and I can't use a Persona, I'm gonna die!"

"So?!" 9S flinched even harder at the Commander's blunt response.

"What do you mean, 'so'?!"

"You said it yourself! The lives of YoRHa androids aren't an issue! You would just wake up back in the Bunker forgetting everything that happened here!"

"...Oh." For some reason 9S had completely forgotten what he said earlier that day.  _So...why do I still feel afraid for my life…?_

"Come on, 9S, you can't freeze up here!" Tyche aimed her healing magic in Aigis' direction, but the appearance of the Persona gained the Shadow's attention away from Aigis and 2B. The Shadow roared, pushed back against its current foes enough to escape their stalemate, then began rushing towards the Commander and 9S.

"Wha-...What's going…"

"9S!" 2B yelled in a panic as she struggled to get back up.

"Commander, you have to do something!" 9S yelled as the Shadow ran closer and closer.

"I just did, and I now believe my idea might have merit. But it all depends on you actually pulling yourself together!"

_Damn it..._ 9S took his Evoker off of his hip, then froze as he held it up. The Shadow cried out as it raised its daggers in the air preparing to cut down both the Commander and 9S.

_Come on...You said you'd do it as a last resort, right?! Now's the time! Come on, 9S just stab yourself!_

Time seemed to slow down as he tried to psyche himself up with his Evoker in hand. He didn't understand this fear. It was completely illogical. He had no need to fear for his life as long as his memory was backed up, but for some reason it kept coming to him any time he tried to actually do the deed.

_You're gonna die anyway from the Shadow if you do nothing! Just...go…now..._

_**Call upon thy name, 9S.** _

A voice echoed in his head as the Shadow was just about to come crashing down on him, and the voice seemed to give him just enough of a push to finally drive the Evoker through.

The sensation throughout his body was indescribable. The temperature of the room rose as a blast of fire hit the Shadow squarely in the face causing it to knock back and howl in pain. If it weren't for the fact that there was no blood on his clothing 9S could've sworn he was dying, but instead of blood he saw his body in the same blue aura he had seen surround Aigis and The Commander.

The Shadow howled once again, prompting 9S to look up to see it was getting sliced from all directions by what appeared to be another Persona, but not one he had seen before. It had the figure of a dark blue skinned woman wearing a white breastplate, but below the waist she looked completely mechanical, with the joints of her legs, knees, and feet looking artificially attached together to rotate almost like the machine lifeforms' limbs. Her arms looked more human-like but where her hands would be there were instead four blades, two on each pseudo-hand that seemed to move independently despite the way they were attached. The top half of the Persona's face was covered by a golden mask that glistened with red and green highlights and surrounded by slightly darker golden tassels, which combined with the Persona's hairstyle made the mask look almost like a lion's mane.

However, 9S noticed that the Persona's blue flames weren't attached to the ones on his body. He looked down to the source of the aura, and saw 2B gripping the handle of her Evoker as it protruded through her stomach.

_So...she did it too…_

Figuring his own Persona was behind him, 9S turned around to see its true form. Standing behind him was a thin, crimson, metallic looking figure with one large, white eye covering where its face should be. Its limbs were as even skinnier than its body, with its legs tightly cuffed together by a white chain. But it stood confidently even despite how fragile it appeared, and said confidence probably came from the auras surrounding its hands, glowing from the tiny specs of embers that floated around them.

_**I am thou...Thou art I...The contract has been sealed.** _

A wailing snapped 9S out of his awe and unwittingly made his Persona dissipate, as the Shadow landed a blow on 2B's Persona, causing it to disappear and 2B herself to wince in pain. The Shadow was about to go after the user, but was interrupted by a charging Palladion hitting it from behind. Seeing his opportunity, 9S finally gained the willpower to really put his all in the fight, taking the Evoker in his left hand and thrusting it into his stomach.

"Come, Prometheus!"

The lanky figure appeared once again, the aura in its hands growing denser and brighter until it became a full fledged fireball. It then outstretched its hands and shot the ball at the Shadow's mask, blowing it back and causing it to flail its many arms in agony.

"...Perfect, all three of you can deal sufficient damage." 9S turned back and saw the Commander with a focused look on her face. He looked right back at the Shadow, but lucky for him it was distracted by another rush from Aigis and Palladion.

"Commander! You said you have a plan?"

"I do. Have you noticed any particular patterns in the way that Shadow fights?"

"...Uh...no…?"

"Look again," the Commander said as she pointed in its direction. The Shadow was still attempting to charge in to 9S and the Commander, but it kept getting blocked by Palladion's continuous Kill Rushes until 9S' Persona dissipated from his lack of use. Next to Palladion was 2B who was up and moving again. She took out her Evoker, then with both her hands drove it into her stomach, while crying out.

"Atalanta!"

The Shadow heard 2B's cry as the blue figure re-appeared once more, blades on her hands outstretched and ready to strike. The Shadow turned its mask to face 2B's Persona, holding up its blades to block and counter the incoming slashes. But in doing so, it left a wide opening for Palladion to strike from behind. Aigis took advantage of this and sent Palladion right into the back of the Shadow, dealing a heavy blow and causing the Shadow to fall a bit off balance.

"Wait…" 9S was confused. "Is that thing just completely ignoring Aigis?"

"Apparently that Shadow is extraordinarily single-minded," the Commander explained. "Whenever a new Persona appears it immediately targets that Persona while completely disregarding any other threats it may be surrounded by."

"...So you're saying we take advantage of that!" 9S put together. "One of us summons our Persona while the other three attack it while it's distracted, and we keep doing so until it's dead!"

"Precisely, but with one little caveat." The Commander turned to check the Shadow, which was currently attacking Palladion and causing Aigis to flinch harder and harder each time it made a successful blow. "You saw what happened when I tried to use my Persona against that thing. I won't be able to hurt it. That's why I need the rest of you to handle that part."

"Got it," 9S said with a nod. "But I still think you'll need to handle healing. All I can sense from myself is a bunch of fire and some weird weakening spell or something."

"...That makes things a little more stressful, but alright. Just ensure that I don't go down."

9S raised his eyebrow.

"Oh don't give me that look, 9S. You know why Healer units are given top priority for maintenance in YoRHa. It's the same principle here"

"Fine, fine." 9S dashed off to explain the plan to Aigis and 2B, ignoring Commander's outburst of "One affirmation will suffice!" as he ran into the fray.

"Guys!" 9S stopped short of the flailing Shadow as it attempted to hack away at Palladion. "We got a plan-"

"We know." 2B had her hands on her Evoker ready to get to work again. "We heard your discussion with the Commander."

"Wait, what? But that thing is making so much of a racket-"

"Telepathy!" Aigis shouted back as she moved in sync with Palladion to dodge the Shadow. "I can explain later, right now we must focus on destroying the Shadow!"

"...Right. 2B, you have this?"

"I'm on it." 2B gripped her Evoker as 9S stepped back a bit to give her some space. "Atalanta, Power Slash!"

Atalanta appeared in the air, crossing its arms in preparation for a double backhanded slash. Just as before, the Shadow completely redirected its focus to attack 2B's Persona, completely ignoring Aigis and Palladion which were still standing directly behind it. Atalanta and the Shadow traded blows with each other, but once again the Shadow was absolutely blindsided when Palladion began drilling in its back once again.

"This is...proving to be..somewhat taxing…" Aigis panted out as Palladion's attack speed began to drop a bit. 9S could tell that Aigis was starting to overuse her Persona and losing some of her stamina as a result.

"Take a break, Aigis! I can handle this!" 9S shouted out as he readied his Evoker. Aigis nodded, then ran back in the direction of the Commander as 9S cried out.

"Prometheus, Agi!"

9S' Persona re-appeared and began charging another fireball, drawing the attention of the Shadow away from Atalanta and right to himself. Fortunately for 9S, the Shadow was unable to deflect his fire as desperately as it tried to do so. All it ended up doing was burning its hands, causing it to once again flail its arms and wail in agony. Unfortunately for 9S, it didn't deter the Shadow from building another gust of wind to shoot at him. 9S tried to dodge, but the Shadow was simply too quick and read his movements, landing a gale on Prometheus as he tried to roll away. 9S grunted in pain, but maintained his ground. 2B took the opportunity to let Atalanta loose. But with each successive cut, 2B began to breathe heavier and heavier.

"Damn it…" she said as Atalanta continued to slice the Shadow from behind. "...I haven't felt this exhausted in my life…"

"Come on-eurgh!-2B! Just hang in there!" 9S continued to try to fight through the pain of the Shadow's attacks enough to keep Prometheus active. He concentrated on using a different spell- _Rakunda_  was its name, apparently-and a mass of purple smoke appeared around the Shadow. 9S wasn't able to see any visible effect it had on the Shadow as he kept attempting to block the daggers and wind gusts, but the next time Atalanta came in for another slice, the Shadow was pushed back into the wall as 2B's Persona let loose with a barrage of slashes, with the Shadow flinching slightly harder than it did the last time.

"9S, whatever you did seems to have weakened the Shadow's ability to defend itself," 2B grunted out as she guided her Persona. "Let's keep this up."

"Right…" 9S was able to make out what 2B said, but he had somewhat of a hard time concentrating after using that Rakunda spell.  _That thing took a lot out of my mental state...Gonna have to be smart about using that…_ He had Prometheus shoot another fireball at the Shadow, but this time the Shadow was too fast and swerved out of the fire's way. It closed the gap, and immediately began hacking away at 9S' Persona.

"AAAAAAAAGH!"

The pain was too much for 9S, he felt the searing pain of a blade cutting through his limbs, even if he himself wasn't the one getting cut down. He lost

"9S!" 2B yelled out as she called out Atalanta in one more last ditch effort, but before she could do anything else she was interrupted by a different voice.

" _Cover me, I'll take care of this."_  The Commander's voice rung inside 9S' head, and judging by 2B suddenly stepping back she heard her too.

"Dia!" The Commander shouted at the top of her lungs as she drove her Evoker into her heart. Tyche manifested overhead and immediately faced towards 9S, and as she did so, particles of energy surrounded 9S that eased his pain and let him find steady footing again. But, just as the team feared, the Shadow immediately redirected its attention to the new Persona in the room and began charging up for another attack. 2B and 9S tried to use this opportunity to send Atalanta and Prometheus at the Shadow to go all out and kill it before it could do any more damage, but eventually all the slashing and fireballs ate up what little stamina they had left, and they couldn't break the concentration of the Shadow. Eventually it raised its daggers in the air, and once again it cast a powerful gust of wind aimed at Tyche. Aigis rocketed in and attempted to block the gale from hitting the Commander, but the force of the wind knocked Aigis right into Tyche, causing the Commander to fly into the wall right beside them and her Persona to disappear.

"Eurgh...9S...2B...I don't know what else we can do…" the Commander grunted out as she struggled to get back to her feet.

"Commander...Is this it…?" Aigis feared for the worst as she too was almost out of breath, and it seemed all attempts 2B and 9S made to destroy the Shadow would be for naught. She gave everything she had to attempt one last summon of Palladion, but with how much damage she had taken from before she could feel no more energy from executing her Evoker program.

" _How tragic...Our little android couldn't even survive one ordeal…"_

Aigis gasped as she heard a distant whisper. "Who's...there…?" She turned her head to where she thought she heard the source of the voice, but floating behind her instead was a tiny, blue glowing butterfly.

" _Or...perhaps this is what she needs in order to achieve greater heights…"_

Almost automatically and without any form of thought, Aigis found herself reaching out for the butterfly. It, in turn, seemed to be drawn towards her, and fluttered delicately to her hand. The roarings of the Shadow seemed to grow ever more distant as Aigis and the butterfly became closer and closer.

Until, to Aigis, everything became a blur.

To the rest of the team, all hell seemed to break loose.

"Aigis…? What are you doing…?" The Commander looked on in confusion as Aigis held out her hand. Aigis closed her hand and her eyes, and for a split second there was complete stillness. Then, the Commander's confusion turned to horror when Aigis opened her eyes.

Her normally blue irises were instead glowing a bright red.

"Oh my God...Aigis…!"

Aigis paid White no mind as she immediately stood up and walked slowly in the direction of the Shadow. Time itself seemed to slow down as Aigis' breathing became slower and steadier. She paid no heed to 9S and 2B who had now noticed Aigis' eyes and immediately began to panic. But to Aigis, there was nothing else in the world that mattered right now. All that mattered was the monstrous Shadow in front of her.

"...PERSONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Aigis shouted with a ferocity she had never experienced before as the bullet blasted through the inside of her mind. The pain she usually felt from summoning a Persona was multiplied tenfold, and instead of her usual Persona, something new heeded her call. Emerging from the white hot aura was now a figure wearing a dark blue trench coat and white gloves, with a belt adorned with a skull and crossbones logo and a sword scabbard on its side. Where its face would be was what could be only described as a beak with holes where its eyes would be. And the most immediately alarming part was how it was surrounded by several human shaped coffins, held together by a chain on the figure's shoulders.

The fearsome Persona roared a mighty war cry and drew its sword from the scabbard, immediately drawing the attention of the Shadow and causing it to start charging up another gust of wind. But before the Shadow could start anything, Aigis' Persona raced towards the Shadow's arms with blinding speed and began slicing them up one by one, completely effortlessly in stark contrast to how the battle had been fought up to this point. Aigis let out a primal scream as the Persona blasted the remaining bits and pieces of the Shadow's arms with rays of light, causing them to dissipate one after another until the only part of the Shadow left standing was the hand carrying its mask.

"Aigis…?" 9S began to weakly limp in the direction of the fight. "What's going on here…?"

The only answer Aigis could give was another scream as the Persona began to slice the Shadow's mask to bits. Its sword cut at such a quick speed that the rest of the androids were barely able to process it all, until at the end of it all the torn pieces of the mask finally floated to the ground.

And that was the last thing Aigis, 2B, and 9S saw that night before finally giving in to exhaustion and collapsing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> FINALLY done writing this chapter. And I'm still not completely happy with the way it turned out, honestly, but I wanted to get it out in order to keep at least a biweekly schedule going. I hate writing action sequences and I guess it's probably only gonna get worse from here on out, but I guess at least the next Full Moon bosses won't involve having to write a boss fight that doesn't actually exist in the home material as well as have to worry about three Awakenings in a single fight. Hopefully it's not too much harder later.
> 
> Speaking of those Awakenings. I'm well aware that Prometheus has been used as main party Personas in other games, but I figure if they're allowed to reuse Susano-o multiple times then I should be allowed this one. Plus I feel it's kind of a perfect Persona for 9S' character. Meanwhile Atalanta's one of those people I'm surprised has made NO appearances in a Megami Tensei game before, considering she's one of the most famous heroines in Greek/Roman Mythology. I guess Atlus doesn't wanna use that reference pool too much considering how widespread Greek/Roman Mythology already is, or something like that. Ah well. Who likes stat sheets?
> 
>  
> 
> 9S
> 
> Weapon: Spears (Pierce) (will explain in future chapter don't worry)
> 
> Arcana: Magician (I)
> 
> Persona: Prometheus
> 
> Skills: Agi, Rakunda, Maragi
> 
> Resists: Fire
> 
> Weak: Lightning
> 
> Persona Description: A Titan whose name means “forethought”. He stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind; as punishment the gods chained him to a rock and had his liver eaten by an eagle every day.
> 
>  
> 
> 2B
> 
> Weapon: One-handed Swords (Slash)
> 
> Arcana: Strength (XI)
> 
> Persona: Atalanta
> 
> Skills: Power Slash, Double Fangs
> 
> Resists: Slash
> 
> Weak: Fire
> 
> Persona Description: A legendary warrior who refused to marry anybody who couldn’t beat her in a footrace. In some tales she was the only female member of the Argonauts who sailed in a quest to find the Golden Fleece of legend.


	11. The Fool

_?, ?, 11945 A.D. ~~ ?_

_?:?_

_**Days until Full Moon: ?** _

The first thing Aigis heard after the battle was a piano.

The next was the operatic voice of a woman singing a mysterious melody, with the piano accompanying her.

Aigis stirred awake and began to open her eyes. She was not anywhere on Earth, nor anywhere in the YoRHa Bunker that she was aware of. She found herself sitting in a wooden chair on top of a deep blue carpet, surrounded by piles of rubble that seemed to go on endlessly towards the horizon. In front of her at a table was a rather peculiar man. His eyes were completely bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in days, and he had a long, narrow nose that seemed to stick out at Aigis. He wore a well groomed business suit, and was currently hunched over the table resting his arms while looking over Aigis. Standing next to the man was a strange woman holding a tome of some kind. She had very light, almost-white blonde hair cut in a bob style, and her eyes were a very piercing golden color. She was wearing a deep blue sleeveless dress and a bellhop hat that somehow matched the color of the surrounding carpet. As Aigis began to regain her consciousness, the man began to speak.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear guest."

"Huh…?" Aigis opened her eyes as she attempted to process everything. "Where am I?...Am I...dead…?"

"Hmhmhmhmhm," the long nosed man chuckled. "Do not worry. This place exists between dream and reality. Mind and matter. You are currently fast asleep in the real world, resting after your ordeal. My name is Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He turned to his left to face the woman standing beside him. "This is Elizabeth. She is a resident here, like myself."

The woman named Elizabeth bowed her head. "Pleased to meet you, Aigis."

"Wait...You know my name?"

"Of course," the man named Igor replied. "This is a room that only those bound by a contract may enter."

"Contract…? What do you mean?"

As if in reply to her question, the blue butterfly that she reached out for earlier suddenly came out of Aigis' chest and began to fly around the room.

"Ah...the butterfly…?"

"Indeed," Igor said with a chuckle. "You have a most intriguing destiny, Aigis. You are the first guest we've had in several millennia, and quite a peculiar one at that. The state of the Velvet Room reflects the state of the guest's heart, and as you can see…" He directed his hand towards all the surrounding rubble.

"...Are you saying I will have to repair this?"

"Perhaps. The journey of a Wild Card can take many shapes and forms. You can never be too sure."

Aigis gave Igor a blank look. "...Wild Card?"

This time Elizabeth was the one to answer. "You are well aware of the power of Persona already, so we don't need to explain that to you. However, while undergoing your ordeal, in desperation you awakened to a new power beyond your normal Persona. We call this power the Wild Card."

Igor took out a deck of cards and laid them on the table. "You recall how every Persona represents a major arcana from a Tarot Deck, correct? Up until now, your Persona was represented by the seventh major arcana," he said as he flipped over a card depicting a cavalryman in a carriage drawn by two different colored sphinxes. "The Chariot."

Igor returned the card to the deck, then began to shuffle it across the table. "However, circumstances have changed. While rare, it is possible for someone's arcana to change in response to external factors. Your arcana in particular changed to a very special and unique one," he said as he flipped over a new card, this one depicting a man carrying his belongings on a stick accompanied by a dog. "The Fool."

"The Fool arcana represents the beginning of a journey," Elizabeth explained. "It is represented by the number Zero-empty, yet containing infinite potential. As such, those who are represented by the Fool have the potential of the Wild Card."

"A journey…" Aigis echoed. "So if I am understanding you correctly, this is only the beginning of something more."

"Indeed," Igor said with a chuckle. "And it is our duty to assist those with the potential of the Wild Card on their journey. Like the number zero, the Wild Card is rather weak on its own, but it will grow as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others. The more powerful your Social Links, the stronger the power will be."

"Social Links…?" Aigis had been able to follow the conversation up to this point, to a certain extent, but this part caught her off guard. "I don't quite understand what you mean by this…"

"Do not worry," Igor reassured her. "It is okay for you to be confused for now. Everything will come together for you in due time."

The butterfly flew back towards Aigis, and phased into her chest. Her eyelids suddenly became heavy.

"I believe that means we are out of time," Igor said while pulling something out of his pocket. He opened his hand to reveal it was a blue key, and handed it to Aigis. "Please, take this. It will allow you to return here in the future."

"I don't understand…" Aigis managed to say, stifling her sudden wave of exhaustion. "You told me I'm...sleeping right now...Is this a dream…?"

"Hmhmhmhm, like I said, all in due time. Now, I believe it's time we part ways. Until we meet again…"

And before Aigis could attempt to ask any more questions, everything faded to black.

* * *

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_3:00_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

"Ngh…"

9S felt like he had been hit with a ton of bricks, but he slowly stirred as he regained consciousness from the fight with the Shadow.

_...Fight with the Shadow..._ 9S began to think as he attempted to allow everything into focus once again.  _So that means my memory is intact...Which means either I didn't die, or I'm currently in the afterlife somehow…_

9S laughed inside his head.  _Yeah, like that'll ever happen._  Forcing his eyes open was a grueling task, but he tried anyway, first seeing a white light, then seeing the familiar ceiling of the Command room.

"...You're finally awake?"

9S heard 2B's voice coming from his right side. He turned his body over and saw both 2B and the Commander standing beside the door, apparently discussing something before he woke up.

"2B...Commander...Did we…?"

"Yes," said the Commander. "I managed to get you all here when you fell unconscious, but none of you died, thank goodness."

"...How are 11B and the Maintenance Shop owner?"

The Commander paused for a moment.

"...The Maintenance Shop owner is perfectly fine. He woke up perfectly stable the morning after our excursion, but had no memory of anything that happened. Probably for the best." She turned away and looked at her desk. "11B on the other hand...well...She's not moaning or whispering anymore, but she's been completely unconscious ever since our battle a week ago. I'm not sure if she's been cured. We'll just have to keep observing her."

_A week ago…?_

"So...I've been out of it for a week, huh?"

"All of us were," 2B replied. "I only woke up a few hours ago myself. Commander actually was just briefing me before you came about."

"Where's Aigis…?"

The Commander pointed over 9S to the opposite side. He turned and saw Aigis laying in a coma on a bed right next to his.

"So...is she…?"

"...I'm not sure. I had Pod 042 and Pod 153 thoroughly check her over for the Logic Virus, but all tests returned negative."

9S slowly sat up, pulling himself over to the side of his bed.

"...But we all saw her eyes, right?"

Both 2B and the Commander nodded their heads.

"I don't really know what we can do until she wakes up," the Commander said. "I have the Pods checking her periodically, but nothing to show for it."

"...Maybe I can try?" 9S finally stood up. "This is the kind of thing I was made for."

The Commander gave a sigh. "I don't know what you can do that the Pods haven't tried already, but I guess I don't see the harm in giving it a shot." She narrowed her eyes. "Besides, you would probably do it anyway even if I denied you permission."

"What makes you say that?!" That outburst came out a little louder than 9S intended.

The Commander sighed. "Scanners. Can't live with them, can't live without them...2B, stay here to keep an eye on 9S and Aigis. I have to get back to work at communications."

Just as the Commander was about to step out, an alert sounded from her computer. She checked it, then turned to 9S.

"...9S, while you try to hack Aigis, see if you can find a way to put this data file in wherever she handles her language settings." She took out a modified plug-in chip and handed it to 9S. "This is a dictionary of Chaos Language that should be compatible with her level of technology."

"...You sure it's compatible?"

"Affirmative." This time it was 9S' Pod 153 that responded. "This data is based on Pod 042's and Pod 153's attempts to locate and eliminate the Logic Virus infecting Aigis. While the attempts were unsuccessful, they gave the Commander a partial estimate of how low level Aigis' programming is."

_Alright, if Pod says so,_  9S thought. He took the plug in chip and placed it into his head. As the Commander left the room, 9S initiated his usual hacking sequence, and eventually his vision began to pixelate.

* * *

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ Hacking Space_

_3:15_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

9S suddenly found himself standing in the familiar greys and whites of his usual hacking space. He looked around to get an idea of how Aigis' data was structured. There were a couple of security systems in place, but when they tried to attack 9S his digital avatar was barely affected. He shot back at them, and the digital turrets were immediately destroyed.

"Guess security won't be a problem for now. Sorry, Aigis."

He looked at the paths to her various programs. Luckily for 9S, they branched out in a way that sort of reminded him of his own.

"I might be able to guess where your language data is, then. It should be up this pathway…"

Sure enough, as 9S travelled to the end, he came to a node labeled "Language Setting" in Japanese, and right next to it was another node labeled "Dictionary", also in Japanese.

"Guess that's the default language for you. Maybe I can make this a bit easier after I upload this file by changing the default setting to Chaos…" 9S held out his hand, and a stream of data flowed from it to the Dictionary node.

It probably took about an hour to transfer the entire file.

"Whew...Okay, note to self, next time leave massive data transfers to the Pods." 9S disconnected himself from the node, then hacked into the Language Setting.

"Alright, there's Chaos. Let's set you to default...aaaaaaand done!" In response, all the labels on the nodes changed from kanji to celestial letters. "That should do it. Now, let's see if we can't find any traces of that Logic Virus." 9S travelled back down to where he entered in, and began to check as many of the paths as he could.

The first path was completely empty.

He found nothing on the second path.

No luck on the third path.

Or fourth.

Or fifth.

Or twentieth.

Or one hundred and twenty eighth.

After going through hundreds of paths full of the usual nodes and firewalls, 9S eventually came across a wide open space that was, based on how similar Aigis' pathways were to his own, close to around where her central processing unit would be. And after hours of searching, he finally saw something in the corner of the open space. It was too far to make out what it was, but it was definitely something besides the security systems. He dashed as fast as he could with his avatar in hacking space, but he had to take a step backward when he finally got up close.

"This...This is…"

It was the creature that came out of Aigis' Persona the other night. But contrasting the wild, brutal rampage it had caused the other night, now it was not moving at all. It had its arms spread out and floated in the air, with its necklace of coffins hanging over its head in an arch, but its head hung low as if it were asleep.

"...I don't think I've seen a Logic Virus up close, but I don't know if it looks like...that…"

" **I would avoid him if I were you, young android."**

A booming voice echoed across the void. 9S gasped, then turned around to see where the source of the voice, but he could not see anyone.

"Wh-Who's there?!"

" **From the sea of souls I come forth…"**

Bits of code began to swirl around the hacking space. They began to spin into a typhon of pixelated numbers until it eventually became a tornado of bright blue light. 9S held his hand in front of his goggles to shield his eyes, until eventually the light began to fade. When 9S opened his eyes again, he saw a strange figure emerge from the code. It had the face of a man with white hair, parted in such a way that one side of it covered his right eye. He wore a red scarf around his neck that seemed to be attached to his headband. Below the scarf was a completely mechanical body; where his stomach would be there was instead a round speaker, he had exposed rotating joints where his knees would be and his "legs" had no feet at all. And most notable of all was the gigantic lyre he carried on his back.

The figure opened his eyes. They were a bright red, causing 9S to involuntarily reach for his weapon.

" **Do not be alarmed."**  The figure began to float down as a distorted voice boomed out of the speaker on its stomach. " **I am Orpheus, master of strings, and the Persona of the one you call Aigis."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going bi-weekly has definitely helped me in regards to giving me time to actually create a backlog again, thankfully. Unfortunately that's also given me the idea that I might actually have time to attempt to write a different story than this, which I probably don't in all honesty. I'm definitely gonna keep committing to my schedule for this story, and maybe if I can bang out this other idea I have in my head in my free time I'll post it on the usual sites. Thanks for reading!


	12. Red Eye

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ Hacking Space_

_10:23_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

 

"Alright, what are you trying to pull here?"

9S' avatar immediately began to take aim at the being that called itself Orpheus with the intent to eliminate it, but he couldn't help but feel he wanted to hear its explanation of the contradiction it just created for itself.

" **You doubt me."**

"Yeah, I kinda do. I've already seen Aigis' Persona before. It's that weird cavalry woman named Palladion, not...whatever you're supposed to be. So I ask again: what are you trying to pull here?"

" **Let me tell you a tale, 9S."** Orpheus took the lyre off of its back and began playing a tune. " **Aigis once told you a Persona is a mask one wears when facing life's hardships, correct?"**

"Yeah…" 9S kept his trigger hand steady.

" **Life's hardships can come in many forms. I'm sure you can understand how drastic the difference is going from fighting solely in the Dark Hour to surviving an apocalyptic wasteland."**

"Okay…"

" **Would it not make sense, then, that just as life's hardships change, the mask one wears to face them can change as well?"** Orpheus continued to pluck the strings of his lyre, creating a mysterious yet almost familiar melody. " **Aigis' heart has been changing ever since she reactivated, but it solidified during the battle with The Magician. Her purpose was no longer just protecting those surrounding her. It became the raw instinct of survival using whatever means necessary."** The Persona directed its attention towards the creature floating in the air.

" **I believe that's why** _ **he**_   **heeded her call."**

9S glanced over at the creature, but kept his aim at the alleged Persona.

"...You know whatever this thing is?"

" **That is Thanatos, the avatar of Death and my reluctant companion. Wherever he goes, I must follow, and vice versa."**  Orpheus sighed. " **He boasts incredible strength, but as we had predicted, Aigis could not yet handle his true power without enormous strain on her psyche. I was forced to restrain him until Aigis could take him on as her Persona as well."**

"What are you talking about?" That comment threw 9S off a bit. "That thing is a Persona too? How many more Personas am I gonna find in here?!"

" **Just the two of us, for now. Though I imagine that when Aigis regains consciousness, that will change."**

 _Ugh...This thing is being so cryptic. Maybe it'd be better if I just shoot it and get this over with._  But even as 9S attempted to shoot Orpheus, the being deflected his digital bullets away like they were nothing.

" **You still do not believe me?"**

"Well why should I? I've been spending over seven hours trying to locate and eliminate the source of whatever Logic Virus is infecting Aigis right now, and suddenly I come across you two,  _and_  you just so happen to have the telltale red eyes. I tried to humor your little story, but I think it's easier to believe you're just the virus attempting to bluff your way out than whatever this double Persona crap is that you're spewing."

Orpheus let out a deep sigh and placed its Lyre on its back, deflecting more of 9S' shots with its bare hands. " **I am not a virus, I assure you. Though I doubt there is much I can do currently to persuade you..."**

"For once we agree on something. We saw Aigis' eyes glow red. That's almost always a death sentence in our time." 9S began letting loose a barrage of more bullets even as Orpheus continued to deflect them. "And if there's any chance to prevent her from getting completely corrupted, you can be damn sure I'm gonna take it!"

Even with Orpheus continuing to block his bullets, 9S continued to strafe around it to see if he could catch him in a blind spot. The space 9S was in currently was too wide and open to find cover, so he figured all he could do was circle around the figure faster than it could turn itself. 9S was so focused on what he considered to be a threat that he did not notice that Orpheus had not once fired or attacked back, nor did he notice the lights surrounding him becoming brighter.

Orpheus, however, did.

" **She's finally awake…I believe this should prove my words."**

It dropped its hands to his sides, leaving itself fully vulnerable.

"If this is you expecting me to show mercy, forget it!" 9S fired another round of digital bullets right for the supposed Persona's heart, unaware of the bait he was taking. Orpheus did not dodge or block. Instead, it took the barrage directly to its chest, and it flinched in pain when the bullets hit. But more importantly…

"Eurgh-!"

A familiar feminine voice grunted in pain, echoing throughout the digital halls, and the surrounding space started to glitch out slightly. And 9S couldn't ignore that.

"...Aigis?! She's awake! Crap, what's going on?" He turned to Orpheus. "What did you do to her?!"

" **I did nothing. Recall that harming a Persona also harms the Persona's user."**  It chuckled under its breath. " **Do you believe me now?"**

"Goddammit…" He didn't believe Orpheus, not yet, but 9S didn't want to be in Aigis' systems while she was rebooting. That could cause a whole host of technical issues. But he also wanted to ensure Aigis wasn't infected before leaving.

"...I'm heading out. If I detect any issues on the outside, I  _will_  come to destroy you," he warned Orpheus."

" **You needn't worry so much, young android."**  Orpheus went back to tend to the creature it had called Thanatos. " **Perhaps this may help. When you receive the opportunity, ask Aigis what she knows about the Wild Card."**

"...The Wild Card?" 9S' digital avatar was slowly crumbling away into bits of data, but it happened slow enough that he heard Orpheus' suggestion. But before either of them could formulate a response, 9S had fully disintegrated and left the hacking space.

* * *

  _Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_10:41_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

 

"9S! What happened in there?" 2B immediately began to bombard 9S as soon as he came back into his body.

"Long story, I'll explain later." He turned to face Aigis, still lying on her bed. "Did she wake up?"

"I don't know. I saw her grimacing as if she were in pain a couple of minutes ago, then she was still. Did you find any hints of the Logic Virus?"

9S groaned. "Like I said, long story. Let's let Aigis recover first, then we'll go from there."

Thankfully it wasn't too long before Aigis' fingers started to move. The two YoRHa androids heard her sigh, then slowly but surely she began to open her eyes.

They were a bright blue, just as they had been from the start.

2B sighed. "I don't know if that makes me more or less worried."

"2...B…?"

"Hey there, Aigis. You feeling okay?" 9S put his hand on Aigis' shoulder.

"I'm not sure...What happened…? Wait...my language..."

"Ah! Yeah, the Commander had me install Chaos into your language bank, and while I was there I set it as your default. Now you won't have to worry about understanding us!"

9S himself was talking in Chaos to ensure everything had worked properly.

"...I see...What happened last night with the Shadow…?"

9S fell silent as he tried to think of how to explain everything. Eventually it was 2B who spoke up instead.

"We managed to destroy the Shadow somehow, so don't stress yourself over that.'" She tensed up. "But it wasn't last night-it was a week ago."

"A week…" Aigis repeated. "So I've been in a coma for that long."

"We all were, don't worry." 9S stood up straight. "2B and I just got up a few hours ago ourselves. I remember you telling us an Awakening can be exhausting, but I had no idea it'd be that intense."

"Awakening…" Aigis looked down. 9S figured she, like 2B and him, were feeling unsure of how to address the elephant in the room.

"...This is going to be an odd question, but do you feel anything weird in your logic functions?"

"...Weird? Weird how…?"

"Does it feel like anything is eating away at your mind?" 2B clarified. "Are you making decisions based around how your logic normally works, or are your thought processes crumbling?"

"...Um…" Aigis looked confused. "I guess I don't feel different in that way...I feel a little slow to respond, but I'm fairly certain that's because I just finished rebooting…"

"...Right. Perhaps now is not the time to ask that question."

"Why are you asking?"

9S sighed. "...When we were fighting that Shadow and you summoned...well, whatever it is that you summoned, your eyes began to glow red. That's usually a sign that an android has been infected by a Logic Virus."

"A virus…?!" Aigis' eyes widened in alarm.

"Don't panic yet," said 2B. "This is the first time I've seen an android's eyes revert to their original state after turning red. For all we know, it could be a false alarm."

"How will we know for sure, then?" Aigis' expression immediately became focused and serious.

"An android infected by the Logic Virus will most often show discreet symptoms within a 24-hour period," 2B's pod chirped in. "Proposal: Aigis should remain in the confines of the YoRHa Bunker until 10:45 on Thursday, April 12th. Pods 042 and 153 can continue to monitor the state of Aigis' logic functions during this time period to evaluate if they are compromised."

Aigis sighed. "I suppose that's a logical course of action. I just hope it's nothing irreparable. I would like to return to Earth as soon as possible."

9S didn't even have to wonder why. "Lemme guess. Tartarus?"

"Correct. With the three of us being Persona users, I believe we may be able to finally explore it. Having the Commander accompany us would be more preferable, but I fear that won't be possible, so we would be the next best option." 2B and 9S nodded in response.

"I'll inform the Commander about our plans," 2B said. "Pods, I assume you both have Logic Virus vaccines in case the symptoms reappear."

"Affirmative," the Pods replied simultaneously.

"Right. 9S and I will remain in the Bunker in case you need us."

"Thank you." Aigis bowed her head.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

 "Jackass. I assume you received my full report about my mission a week ago."

" _Commander. What the fuck."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I try to make a point of when handling exposition is sprinkling it throughout multiple chapters in ways that make sense rather than having one gigantic infodump in a single chapter or two. I feel it helps the story flow better that way, though I do understand that those of you who already know the ins and outs of these series' lore might be a little antsy about having to go through everything. What I'm trying to say, for those of you that might be reading this that have absolutely no knowledge about Persona 3, is that Tartarus explanation will come soon. Aigis was able to explain everything about the Dark Hour to 2B and 9S to the best of her ability back in the Resistance Camp, but when it comes to the Commander urgent missions just keep popping up before she has the time to do any full explanations. 
> 
> In other news, I have some plans for a little vacation this weekend. Some of you readers, if you keep up with a lot of video games, might be aware of a little fighting game tournament called EVO. I'm heading out to Vegas to compete (translation: get bodied) in it (Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ, specifically), so I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to have to write over the coming weekend. I don't think it should be TOO big of an issue thanks to the bi-weekly thing, but I figured I should give a heads up just in case. Thanks again for your continued support!


	13. Hesitant Alliances

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ Desert Outskirts_

_11:15_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

" _I'll take that as a yes, then."_

"Seriously, what the fuck?! THIS is what you were talking about when you said that android told you about something dangerous?!" Jackass could see her shouting was having its desired effect when some of the Operators in the background turned their heads. She wanted  _everyone_ to know how much of an idiot White was being right now. "And what's this bullshit at the end here?!"

White shook her head. " _I know. You're probably going to chew me out about leaving out those parts to the Healer units right about now."_

"If not them, at least fucking tell me!" Jackass didn't specify the details because of the many ears listening on both their ends, but she was sure White understood that the subject was the hallucinations about blood splatters and coffins everywhere that she's been having for FOUR FUCKING YEARS. And she didn't even attempt to tell ANYBODY?! Not even her closest friend who she knew couldn't give less of a shit about following protocol?! She never would've made her leave her post (even though that'd be the not-stupid thing to do, goddammit, you can't work 24/7/365 and not expect something in your programming to fail, but she wouldn't have gone beyond giving White a lecture). At the moment she couldn't care less about the whole creepy supernatural hidden hour bullshit that apparently turned out to be the true reason behind everything. All that mattered right now was White was being as stubborn and prideful as she always had been back during the 8th Machine War, thinking she always had to go about things as if she's the only person who can do her job and never accept any help.  _Goddammit, she hasn't changed one bit._

" _...I know you're fuming right now, and I guess you have every right to be."_ White sighed. " _I will attempt to make a point of consulting with at least you on these matters should they arise again. Regardless, we have much bigger issues on our hands right now. Did my file help you in any way in regards to the issues regarding your excavation of Yakushima?"_

Jackass grunted. She was totally changing the subject to avoid owning up to her mistakes...but she was right. Right now both of them had bigger fish to fry. "Well, some things sort of make more sense. Apparently this Kirijo Group was some sort of conglomerate of many corporations that held power in the world of education, business, and science; there was no official documentation of the last, but I'm pretty sure it's a safe assumption based on everything we've discovered."

" _Indeed. But I assume that since there's no record of their scientific endeavors, there's no record of_ that  _either."_

That, of course, referring to the Dark Hour.  _We really need to figure out some codephrases or something so we're not always this vague. It's annoying._

"Nope, nothing. Maybe I could've found something if I went back there with the knowledge I have now," Jackass said while giving White a stink eye, "but I got a job to do here in the desert."

A loud, faraway boom interjected itself in the conversation.

"Can't have anybody getting caught up in that again, can we?"

" _You and your obsession with explosions…"_ White shook her head. " _Actually, now that I think about it, I was planning on sending a squadron in that direction anyway. There have been reports about machine lifeform activity in that area, and I haven't heard back from any YoRHa units that are supposed to be stationed there. Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone."_

Jackass tilted her head. "What's that mean?"

" _I'm going to send units 9S and 2B. They're the two androids that are privy to a certain bit of classified intel."_ White nodded her head as if to tell her  _Yes, that means they know about the Dark Hour_. " _You can have a bit of an information exchange with them before they head out into the desert to solve the machine problem. And if she's feeling up to it, I'll have them accompanied by the last android who knows about that intel too."_

Jackass raised her eyebrow. "You mean the fossil?"

" _I don't believe that's a very respectful way of addressing her,"_ White said with a hint of annoyance. " _Her name is Aigis, and she's still coming to terms with her rather rude awakening."_

"Yeah, yeah, save it. I get it, she probably knows more about this shit than anybody. Send her over here as soon as you can, we can probably figure out a couple things at least."

" _I can't guarantee she'll be in proper condition to leave the Bunker quite yet, no thanks to her last mission. But I will ensure she sees you as soon as she can."_

"Hopefully earlier than later. Maybe she won't try to keep secrets from me." Jackass didn't even let White form a response as she disconnected the call, then turned around to face the nearby cliff.

"HEY! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?! BLAST ZONE, CLEAR THE FUCKING AREA!"

* * *

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_11:23_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

White groaned in frustration.  _Like she has any room to talk. If it were up to her I wouldn't have found out about that stunt she pulled in Yakushima. What makes her think I'd tell her everything about being YoRHa Commander?! If she knew about all the shit I've done since taking the position she'd never look me in the eye again-_

"Commander."

A familiar voice dragged White out of her thoughts.

"Ah, 2B. Perfect timing. How is Aigis faring?"

"She's awake, and appears to be stable."

White raised her eyebrows. "No red eyes?"

"No, but the pods are checking her to be safe. They recommended a 24 hour monitoring period, and if nothing turns up, she's fit to return to the field."

"...Well, if that ends up being the case, then I have a new mission for the three of you." White relayed the reports about the desert and told 2B how she wanted them to uncover what the source of the machine activity was.

To her surprise, 2B hesitated to give a response.

"...Is something the matter, 2B?"

"...Actually, part of the reason I came over here was to request some time to explore the Tower when we reach the surface. Aigis wanted to get started on that as soon as she can."

"...Tower?"

2B tilted her head. "Yes.  _The Tower._ "

There was a pause.

"...This has to do with our special group, doesn't it."

"...Did Aigis not tell you?" 2B looked around, probably to make sure none of the other YoRHa units were listening in too hard.

"I don't believe she did. It seems we have more to discuss." White checked around the room, then looked at the holographic tablet in her hands. "Communications seem to be running fine right now. I think I can take my job into the infirmary without any issues. Come, 2B."

* * *

"So to recap," began the Commander. "This Tower, otherwise known as Tartarus, is basically a Shadow nest, and has the largest concentration of Shadow activity on this part of the world."

"Correct," came Aigis' reply.

"Part of your mission when you were initially active was to find a way to destroy it, and that meant climbing it as high as possible."

"Yes."

"And the only reason you haven't gone already was because you needed more Persona users to help."

"Well, that was one reason. The other reason is just how frantic the past 10 days have been."

"Right, and I certainly wasn't any help with that." The Commander was clearly stifling a chuckle under her breath. "Well, from what I understand this task can only be done during the Dark Hour, correct?"

"Yes."

"I guess it's possible to make progress in both missions, then. I will allow you three one day to explore the Tower, then after that you're needed at the desert."

"One day?!" 9S whined. "But that only gives us an hour to explore!"

"I can't exactly delay the desert mission for too long, 9S. Plus, I have a contact there, and I told her I'd send your group specifically." The Commander looked from side to side. "She's been made aware of the Dark Hour."

"...Weren't you the one who requested the Dark Hour be kept a secret?" 2B was probably, no, definitely glaring at the Commander through her visor.

"This is someone I know I can put my trust in. She's a bit...eccentric, but she knows how to keep her mouth shut when it comes to classified intel like this."

"If you say so," 2B said with an ever-so-slight twinge of sarcasm.

"Well, at least we get  _some_  time at Tartarus." 9S shrugged. "Come to think of it, this is our first real mission together as a group of Persona users, isn't it?"

"Wasn't our first mission the fight from last week?" Aigis asked.

"We only got through that mess because of your lucky break. Plus, 2B and I only got our Personas in the middle of the fight, so technically that doesn't count."

There was a pause, and it was clear 9S was contemplating something.

"You think we should have a proper name for our little group?"

"A name?" 2B asked.

"Yeah! I mean, we're definitely gonna be working a lot more closely since we're the only Persona users in YoRHa, so we might as well make it official. Plus it'd make it easier to keep track of what missions are for the Machine War and what missions are Shadow related in the case of outside company. We just tell each other 'It's [X] related.'"

"I believe that would just make others even more wary of our group," 2B bluntly stated.

"He does have a point, though," said the Commander. "Trying to convey Dark Hour-related conversations when there are others around has been tricky enough. I just finished a call with my aforementioned contact and there were a lot of 'that's and 'those's. It would help if we can find a way to be less vague."

"...How about the Shadow Operatives?"

All three YoRHa androids turned to face Aigis, looking surprised at her rather quick answer. She proceeded to explain.

"Back when I was first active, Kirijo-san actually put forth the idea of a conglomerate consisting of all forms of Persona users from around the world, and 'Shadow Operatives' was the most prevalent name idea regarding this theoretical group. There were other potential names put forth, such as the Shadow/Special Execution Squad and the Masquerade, but I think of those three choices, the Shadow Operatives would be the most palatable."

"Huh. 'Shadow Operatives' actually sounds pretty cool." 9S was obviously enthusiastic about the idea. Aigis figured he would be.

"...We aren't calling ourselves an Execution Squad," 2B answered. "I still believe any sort of group name would just cause us to draw attention, but ultimately the decision lies with the Commander."

"...I think it should work," said the Commander. "Even if it does draw the attention of fellow androids, the name is vague enough that it's meaningless to anybody who has no knowledge of the Dark Hour. To most people it would probably sound like we're secret agents. Which is...partially true, depending on how you look at it."

"Then we are in favor?" asked Aigis.

"...Yes. I can't exactly put this in paper for obvious reasons, but from henceforth we shall be known as the Shadow Operatives. I shall act as your Commander, just as I always have in YoRHa, while Aigis will be our acting field leader."

Aigis was a little surprised. "...Me? But I could be infected right now..."

"I'm referring to once you're clear of any Logic Virus symptoms, of course. I don't want 9S or 2B doing anything Tartarus related without you there, and ideally nothing related to Shadows at all until you're cleared."

"Yeah, I agree with the Commander," piped in 9S. "You have the most experience out of any of us in the Dark Hour, so if we're ever going to go on the offensive we'll need your guidance."

2B simply nodded to show she shared the same opinion as the other two YoRHa androids.

"...Okay. Then I will do my best to lead you all. I hope I don't disappoint you."

It was in that moment that Aigis heard a strange shattering noise. Time seemed to slow down, but not in the same way as it does during the Dark Hour. A voice echoed in Aigis' head as her mind suddenly pictured a Tarot Card-the same card that Igor had shown her in her dreams.

_**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana…** _

"...Aigis? Aigis!" She broke out of her trance when 9S began shaking her body.

"Ah! Sorry. Did something happen?"

"You seemed to space out there for a second." He turned to the Pods. "You're sure there's still no traces of a Logic Virus in her?"

"Negative," came the response from the black and red Pod. Pod 153, apparently.

"...Alright, if you say so. Actually, that reminds me...I have an odd question for you, Aigis."

"What would that be?"

"What exactly do you know about the Wild Card?"

Aigis' eyes widened. "How did you hear about that?"

"...Damn. Guess I really will have to talk with that guy again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. EVO was a blast; managed to get one win in Guilty Gear while I downed in the pools of DBFZ, but I didn't care because I found so much to do besides that. My main takeaway of the trip is that Soul Calibur 6 is probably going to be my favorite fighting game to come out this year; I spent so much of my free time at that booth trying to get somewhat competent. Said booth also had stations for the upcoming MHA game coming out and ehhhhhhhhh...arena fighters aren't really my thing. I hope one day they make a true traditional fighting game for that series, it seems like the perfect IP to do it with.
> 
> Anyway, back to the fic! I know, I'm practically moving at a glacial pace for this beginning. I at least wanted to get started on at least one Social Link by this point, and of course it's the traditional story-required Fool Link. I'll keep track of the SL progression in these notes both for my sake and the reader's. At some point I really really want to pick up the pace for this story so it doesn't take 3 chapters per in-story day; hopefully now that most of the basic exposition is done I can do that. Once again, thank you for reading! Your continued support makes going through this long haul all worth it.
> 
> SOCIAL LINK PROGRESSION:
> 
> The Shadow Operatives (Fool) - 1


	14. The Means By Which All is Revealed

_Wednesday, April 11th, 11945 A.D. ~~ YoRHa Bunker_

_18:43_

_**Days until Full Moon: 22** _

"..."

"..."

"..."

As Aigis quickly found out, staying in the infirmary with no one but the Pods monitoring her led to a very lonely experience. She understood why-as soon as the Shadow Operatives went over their mission the other three were very quick to leave on the off chance of the Logic Virus being contagious-but it left her with not much to do besides converse with the Pods, which as she found out the hard way was a bit of a challenge. They never started the conversation, and Aigis didn't want to possibly intrude on them doing their regular status checks, so it only led to hours of awkward silence on both sides.

"...Analysis: Aigis appears as if she wants to say something." The white Pod, Pod 042, finally broke the silence.

"Oh...well...is it alright for us to talk?"

"Query: What would Aigis like to discuss?"

"Nothing specifically, it's just...You don't speak often during our meetings together, so I don't get to hear your thoughts about them. But I don't want to possibly interfere with your monitoring…"

"Response," came the feminine voice of the black pod, Pod 153. "One purpose of a YoRHa Pod is to provide conversation with its assigned unit when they have no other units to speak with. In acting as your current caretakers, we are in essence assigned to you for the next 16 hours, or 17 hours for you including the Dark hour. There is no problem with communicating with Pods 153 or 042 during the monitoring process."

"...I see." So Aigis' judgement was incorrect. "I apologize for staying quiet, then."

"Aigis' apology is unnecessary," said Pod 042. "Query: what would Aigis wish to discuss?"

"...Well, you pods were monitoring my condition the entire time since I awakened, correct?"

"Affirmative."

"You did not alert 2B or 9S about any abnormalities when I briefly lost control."

"Affirmative. The source of Aigis' brief lapse was not a Logic Virus. Neither Pod 042 nor Pod 153 detected any systematic corruption at any point while monitoring."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "Well...while that's partially a relief, it does leave me somewhat worried. The reason I lost myself was because I heard a voice inside my head."

The Pods gave no response for a moment, but 153 spoke up after the brief pause. "Proposal: inform Pods 042 and 153 of precisely what Aigis heard."

"...I believe it was a young man's voice. It was rather hard to tell with how it echoed, but I heard the words he said clearly: 'Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana.'"

"Analysis," 153 spoke up rather quickly. "A Logic Virus may cause an android to hear voices, but the voices tend to be indecipherable. Since Aigis was able to repeat the voice's words, it is unlikely that this voice is the result of the Virus."

Aigis sighed in relief. "Thank you. I was fairly certain that it wasn't the virus, but I couldn't get the possibility away from my mind. Especially with how 9S reacted."

Pod 042 began floating to the other side of the bed. "Aigis has been in stable condition since the monitoring process began, even during the period Unit 9S hacked into Aigis' interface. Based on the data collected within that time frame, there is only a 7.9% chance that Aigis has been infected by a Logic Virus. Aigis is only in the infirmary as a result of proper protocol."

"I see."

More silence.

"Pod 042 has a query for Aigis."

"Yes?"

"The voice Aigis described said 'Personas of the Fool Arcana.' Apart from insinuating that the source of this voice is related to the Dark Hour, the only instances recorded in the databanks of YoRHa that use the words 'Fool' and 'Arcana' relate to the artifacts known as 'Tarot Cards,' an ancient form of playing cards often used for both recreation and in practices relating to the occult. Is this a proper connection?"

Aigis nodded. "Yes, both Personas and Shadows have a very strong connection to tarot cards, particularly those of the Major Arcana."

"Would Aigis mind elaborating?"

* * *

"Sure, no problem!"

Operator 6O was glad 2B and 9S decided to pay her a visit, today especially. Not a day after she began gaining an interest in ancient human fortune telling methods like horoscopes and tarot cards, all they seemed to do when she tried them for herself was spell out doom and gloom for the poor girl. She tried to not let it get her down, especially since 2B's efficiency on the field was partly her responsibility and she didn't want to let 2B down, but the dread in the back of her mind from whatever signs the gods gave her was becoming really hard to ignore.

Of course, that was part of the reason she was so shocked that 2B of all people suddenly gained an interest in 6O's hobbies.

2B. The practical, no-nonsense, perpetual stick-in-the-mud android asking about fortune telling. She could've seen 9S showing an interest, but no, 2B was the one that asked, and 9S just went along with it. That floored her. Especially since 6O had brought up her interests previously a little more than a week ago back when 2B was still on Earth, and back then she showed little to no interest whatsoever.

_Well, it's alright,_ thought 6O.  _Maybe this'll help her open up with me a bit!_

"I have to ask, though," 6O said as she began shuffling the deck of tarot cards she had received from one of the Healers. "What suddenly spurned your interest in fortune telling, anyway?"

"Not fortune telling. Tarot cards." 2B was as curt as ever. "I saw certain cards in that deck and it struck me as rather...peculiar."

"Peculiar how?"

"Probably best not to worry about that," 9S answered in 2B's stead. "I'm kinda curious myself, how does this whole tarot thing work, anyway?"

"Well, obviously I'm still a bit of a novice at this," 6O said with a nervous chuckle as she spread the cards out face down on her table. "I'm pretty sure what you're supposed to do is draw at least two cards from this scattered pile, possibly more depending on how far you want to take the reading. Each card supposedly has a symbolic meaning behind it, and when multiple cards are read together it works as either a prediction of things to come or advice for the future."

"...What does this card represent?" To 6O's surprise, 2B had already picked up and flipped over one of the cards in the pile, one depicting a woman and a lion.

"Oh! Ummmm...I'm not sure if this is supposed to count when I didn't formally start the reading...Or does it count since you were the one who flipped it over…?"

"...It has the Roman Numeral XI."

_...Yeah. That's exactly how 2B would handle this. Just getting straight to the point. Guess we'll pretend this is a proper reading then!_  6O cleared her throat and attempted to find her proper "mystical psychic" voice.

"This is the eleventh major arcana of the standard tarot deck, uhh...right, Strength," 6O awkwardly tried to use a deeper, more serene voice for the reading. "It represents not strength in the physical sense. It refers instead to inner strength, willpower, and self control, the perfect balance of which is necessary for the woman depicted in the card to effortlessly tame the wild beast. Um...Could you please flip over another card so I can interpret your fortune better?"

9S and 2B looked at 6O as if she had grown a second head.  _I knew it, I look ridiculous doing this..._ And yet, 2B complied anyway, turning over a card at the end of the pile to her right.

And that was when 6O started to get really flustered.

"The number 10? And what are these symbols on the card?"

"Uh...that would be the Ten of Swords...in the reversed position…"

"Reversed?" Oh, right. 2B had started before 6O could explain that bit.

"A tarot card has different meanings depending on if it's upright or upside-down-reversed-when it's picked. Usually a reversed card means the opposite of what the card symbolizes, but that's neither a good nor a bad thing depending on the other cards you have picked. But, uh…"

2B raised her eyebrow at 6O's sudden silence. 6O could feel her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"...I don't actually know what this particular card means. I'm sorry, 2B…"

"Eh?" 9S grunted. "I mean, I get that there's a lot of cards here to keep track of, but you should be able to find what any card means in the Bunker's database? It has plenty of info on this kind of stuff for some reason."

"Well...the thing is...I can only seem to find logs about the Major Arcana," 6O admitted. "Cards like this one that have swords, cups, wands, or coins on them belong to the Minor Arcana, and there isn't as much on them. All I know is what each suit represents, like how the Swords here represent the idea of conflict. I don't know anything about the number though…"

6O turned away. She was letting 2B down, she just knew it. Maybe she really was destined for misfortune as her horoscope had told her…

"...It's fine, 6O. I was mostly interested in the Strength card anyway. In that aspect, you were a great help," 2B said, much to 6O's pleasant surprise.  _I really did help…?_

"...Well, that's great then!" 6O was immediately back to her cheerful demeanor. "I guess it's a good thing you managed to get that card from the pile. Wait...you didn't cheat, did you…?"

"I didn't pay close attention to the cards being shuffled, I assure you. I would have asked about Strength anyway, it was just coincidence that I happened to pick it."

"Was it coincidence, or was it fate…?" 6O teased. 2B just responded with her regular flat expression.  _Darn, worth a shot._

"Mind if I give it a go?" 6O was not surprised at all with 9S following up 2B. She had already begun shuffling the cards in antcipation.

"Sure! Just, uh, keep in mind that if you pick out a Minor Arcana I won't be able to help much," 6O said sheepishly as she laid the cards out on the table.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen then." 9S hovered his hand over the pile for a bit before picking up a card close to the center. Fortunately for 6O, it was a card of the Major Arcana, depicting an infinity symbol, two eyes, a flame, and hands wide open. At the bottom was the Roman Numeral I.

"The Magician," 6O said as she tried to regain her mystic voice. "The first Major Arcana in many tarot decks, it represents the idea of untapped potential, initiative, immaturity, and the power to change one's fate."

"And this is...in the upright position, right?" 9S asked.

"Correct. But like I said before, a proper reading is done with at least two cards. Please turn over another so we can discover the meaning further."

9S did as 6O asked. But when she saw the card 9S turned over, her eyes went wide in horror.

"6O? You know what this card is, right?"

How could she not. It was one of the most prominent cards she herself drew when attempting to do fortunes for herself.

A large structure, being blown apart by a bolt of lightning and causing the people inside it to fall to their inevitable demise. Its Roman Numeral was XVI.

"...That is the Tower. A symbol of oncoming demise, usually as a result of one's own pride."

"Demise…?" 9S grew just as worried as 6O.

"If I had to interpret this reading...Be wary of your initiative. Though you may possess great potential, your overconfidence as a result of said potential will come back to bite you."

It made  _way_  too much sense in the case of 9S.

"Damn...I was hoping this would be a bit more fun…"

"Heh...This is kinda why I've been considering dropping fortune telling altogether," 6O said. "Fate can be cruel sometimes. Maybe it's better to just ignore all that and put fate in your own hands."

"I don't know," 2B said as she stood up from the table. "Perhaps there's merit in both. Knowing what fate has in store for you and keeping it in mind, but also taking action so your fate can be changed."

And add that to the growing number of things 2B has done in the past week that shocked 6O. Now she's taking the idea of fortune telling completely seriously.

"9S," 2B continued, "I would take 6O's reading as advice rather than a prediction of things to come. Don't be overconfident, and you won't have to suffer the demise depicted in the card."

_Ohhhhhhhh. That's her ploy here. Well, can't say it doesn't work out for us!_

"...Alright," 9S said with a shrug. "Guess I'll take that advice to heart then."

"And 6O." The Operator looked up to her partner. "...I think it might do some good to keep up with that hobby of yours. Don't get discouraged just because your results always look grim."

_Wait. She's being completely serious and not just doing this for his sake. Who is this person and what have they done with 2B? Did something happen during the past week to change things?...Wait...Oh!_

"Say, 2B, I have a silly question for you."

"Shoot."

"What's the deal with that Aigis girl? She barged into the Bunker last week and passed out, then I remember the Commander looking really tired when she woke up. And since then she and you two have been meeting with Aigis a lot." 6O eyed the two of then suspiciously. Neither of them showed any hint of nervousness, though 6O swore she heard a tiny gasp from 9S.

"...We found her roaming the City Ruins. For some reason she was reactivated after staying dormant for almost ten thousand years. She was...lost, in more ways than one. We've been trying to help her adjust as well as possibly glean any information out of her regarding the Great Calamity, which is why the Commander is so involved with her."

"Ahhhhh. I was wondering why the Commander warned us about a Japanese speaking android docking the Bunker." Something about 2B's answer seemed a bit more suspicious than usual, but 6O decided not to pursue the issue, instead focusing on her main reason for asking. "Does she...happen to have an interest in tarot cards, by any chance?"

"...Yes. She's brought some of them up a few times with me and I became curious."

"Aha! I knew it! Why don't you bring her out here, then? I'm sure we could become friends easily!"

"...Can't do that, 6O," 9S said as he shook his head. He explained Aigis' current situation about a potential Logic Virus and how they were planning to head to Earth the second she's cleared.

"Awwww. Well, next time I call for your regularly scheduled contact, see if you can get her in the call with you! Maybe she knows more about the things I don't, like the Minor Arcana, now that I think about it."

6O didn't voice her suspicion about why Aigis, 2B, 9S, and the Commander seem to be grouping up more often lately, but it was in the back of her mind. Something about everything just smelled...fishy. But she couldn't put her finger on it, so she just let it be for now.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you again for your readings."

"No problem!"

* * *

_Alright, one last Dark Hour in the Bunker before we head back to Earth. Maybe it's about time I followed up on my little chat with the harp guy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. 5 days off pace for this one. And it's not even a particularly action heavy chapter, just a slice-of-life thing to introduce and explain tarot in this story. I'm really slipping. I apologize profusely for that. For what it's worth I'm glad 6O provides an easy route for bringing tarot into the story aside from the Shadows and Personas themselves. Don't remember if she mentioned tarot specifically, but I figured that it's not that far removed from canon even if she didn't. I will be trying to incorporate a little bit more research whenever I do any sections of this story that involve tarot readings, (by which I mean using TV Tropes and Wikipedia, and remembering that one time I had a free tarot reading back during this one Halloween party from my freshman year at college).
> 
> Anyway, I'm almost positive next chapter is the last one on the Bunker, after that we'll be moving back to Earth and finally (finally) getting started on the Desert Arc. Hopefully things will be a bit more interesting when...everything out of that part of Automata happens. I'm also trying to shoot a bit higher in terms of word count, that way it doesn't take months of chapters to get through parts of the story. Might result in my update pace slipping again, but I'd rather that than people get bored of me dragging my feet from Chapter to Chapter. I haven't gotten any reviews or comments saying that, but I've personally felt like I've been doing so and I really want to get away from that habit. Remember kids, sometimes you are your own worst critic.
> 
> Thanks again for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this is my first attempt at a fanfiction I guess. I’ve really wanted to write something involving NieR Automata as it was my favorite game of 2017, and I figured I’d have the most fun writing a fusion of some kind. Trying to think of which second franchise would work best with it was a bit tricky, but eventually Persona 3 popped into my head because of the general melancholy tone of that game and that there’s already an android with the potential of the Wild Card to work with from that game (let’s just ignore, uh, everything else about the answer). The story is basically going to follow Automata’s timeline for the most part, so don’t worry about the game being spoiled in the opening chapters. That said, key details of both games will eventually come up sooner or later, so I highly recommend playing both games before reading this.


End file.
